[4] hæfr ‘able’: So W, U, A, and adopted in Skj B and Skald. This is the reading of the majority of the ms. witnesses, and the vowel is secured by internal rhyme (for the etymology of hæfr, see AEW: hæfr); cf. also the semantically parallel adj. gegn ‘the capable one’ (l. 1). SnE 1848-87 and SnE 1998 retain the R, C reading æfr ‘furious’, which is certainly possible, although the etymological stem vowel in that adj. is œ rather than æ (see AEW: œfr).
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.