[6] gefja (f.) ‘lance’: A hap. leg. The heiti is probably a corrupt form of glefja or glafja ‘lance’ (cf. OSwed. glæfia, glavia ‘sword’; ModEngl. glaive (now obsolete)). In Old Norse, the latter word occurs as glaðel in Laxd (ch. 77, ÍF 5, 225 and n. 4), as glafel in Þiðreks saga (ch. 206, Þiðr 1853, 196) and as glafia in Konungs skuggsiá (Holm-Olsen 1983, 167; see also Falk 1914b, 72-3). The word is a borrowing from MLG glevie ‘spear’ < MLat. gladiolus, Lat. gladius ‘spear’ (Höfler 1932, 223) and denotes a foreign weapon.
References
- Bibliography
- Holm-Olsen, Ludvig, ed. 1983. Konungs skuggsiá. 2nd rev. edn. Norrøne tekster 1. Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt.
- Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
- ÍF 5 = Laxdœla saga. Ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson. 1934.
- Höfler, Otto. 1932. ‘Altnordische Lehnwortstudien’. ANF 48, 213-41.
- Þiðr 1853 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1853. Saga Ðiðriks konungs af Bern. Fortælling om kong Thidrik af Bern og hans kæmper, i norsk bearbeidelse fra det trettende aarhundrede efter tydske kilder. Christiania (Oslo): Werner.
- Internal references
- 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Laxdœla saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 1199-1203. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=11> (accessed 19 April 2024)