[4] svimul (f.): The word is a hap. leg. whose meaning is uncertain, and different explanations have been suggested (see AEW: svimul; ÍO: svimul; Olsen 1942b, 8). It could perhaps be connected with svími m. ‘faintness’, ModNorw. svimle ‘reel, feel dizzy’ and svimmel ‘dizzy, confused’ (hence, ‘staggering one’). Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 409) provides ‘roamer’.
References
- Bibliography
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Olsen, Magnus. 1942b. ‘Hild Rolvsdatters vise om Gange-Rolv og Harald Hårfagre’. MM, 1-70.