Note to ÞKolb Eirdr 14I
[5] regn rekka Þorins ‘the rain of the men of Þorinn <dwarf> [DWARFS > POETRY]’: (a) Þorinn is a dwarf-name meaning ‘bold’ (see Note to Þul Dverga 4/6III), and this phrase appears to be a straightforward poetry-kenning alluding to the myth of the mead of poetry (cf. Meissner 428 and Note to Eskál Vell 1 [All]), though its pret. tense predicate rann ‘streamed, ran’ is curious. (b) Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901; Skj B) emends rekka ‘men’ to Rǫkkva (gen. sg. of Rǫkkvi, a sea-king), combining this with rann ‘house’ to give ‘house of Rǫkkvi [SHIELD]’, and then with regn- ‘rain’ to give ‘shield-rain [BATTLE]’. Finnur combines this with the adj. þorinn ‘brave’, the reading of the Knýtl mss, 73aˣ, 78aˣ, 54 and Bb(106rb), to produce a phrasal adj. Rǫkkva rann-regnþorinn ‘battle-brave’, which qualifies Ulfkell (l. 8). Such a reading involves emendation, tmesis, and awkward word order. (c) Skald further emends rann to gen. sg. ranns, thus avoiding tmesis, but essentially retains Skj B’s adjectival interpretation.
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.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- 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.
- Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Knýtlinga saga’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=19> (accessed 26 April 2024)
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Dverga heiti 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 699.
- Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 1’ 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. 283.