Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Note to Þul Á 4III

[6] semð (f.) ‘calm’: Or sœmð (so A, B). This river-name does not occur in other sources and it has been interpreted in different ways. According to Holthausen (1948, 240), semð is related to OHG semida ‘reed’, whereas de Vries (AEW: semd) suggests a connection to the adj. samr ‘same, unaltered, willing’ and the possible meaning ‘calm one’ (cf. semja ‘arrange, settle’ and ‘calm’, st. 1/7). Finnur Jónsson (1933-4, 267-8) argues that the name is related to the weak verb sœma ‘honour’ (den prægtige ‘the splendid one’).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
  3. Finnur Jónsson. 1933-4. ‘Þulur’. APS 8, 262-72.
  4. Holthausen, Ferdinand. 1948. Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altwestnordischen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close