Note to Bjbp Jóms 13I
[6] brjótr hranna ‘the breaker of waves [SEAFARER = Búi]’: The kenning clearly refers to Búi but appears to be incomplete. One would expect hranna ‘of waves’ to be part of a kenning such as ‘fire of the waves [GOLD]’, which would form a kenning for ‘generous man’ with brjótr ‘breaker, distributor’ (cf. Meissner 330-1). However, in this context brjótr seems to refer simply to cleaving the waves, and the kenning could refer to Búi as a seafaring warrior from the Baltic (cf. the Skj B translation vikingen ‘the viking’), or could possibly allude to him as a swimmer, famed for leaping from his ship once defeat is inevitable; see Note to st. 26/2 and sts 36-7 and for a possible precedent for a kenning for ‘swimmer’, see Note to Eyv Lv 4/7, 8.
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.
- Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
- Internal references
- Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Lausavísur 4’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 219.