Note to Þhorn Gldr 8I
[6] þverri Skota ‘the destroyer of Scots [= Haraldr]’: (a) Contrary to nearly all other eds, the present edn follows a suggestion of Hofmann (1978-9, 69-70) and assumes that the contiguous words Skota þverri form a kenning for Haraldr. This interpretation has the advantage of being compatible with herr varð flœja seið lǫgðis ‘the host had to flee from the incantation of the sword [BATTLE]’ in ms. Kˣ. (b) Other eds have chosen the reading eiðs ‘of the isthmus’ (761aˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ) instead of seið ‘incantation’ and combine it with lǫgðis ‘of the sword’ to form a shield-kenning ‘land of the sword’, which they further combine with þverri ‘destroyer’ to form a warrior-kenning (Nj 1875-8, II, 386, 388; ÓT 1892, 350; ÍF 26; von See 1977b, 68). However, a majority of mss have a form of seið (seið, seiðs, seiði), and it would be more likely for an original s- to be dropped here, where two s’s are in contact, than for one to have been inserted (Holtsmark 1927, 9).
References
- Bibliography
- Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
- Hofmann, Dietrich. 1978-9. ‘Sagaprosa als Partner von Skaldenstrophen’. MS 11, 68-81.
- ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
- See, Klaus von. 1977b. ‘Skaldenstrophe und Sagaprosa: Ein Beitrag zum Problem der mündlichen Überlieferung in der altnordischen Literatur’. MS 10, 58-82. Rpt. in von See 1981a, 461-85.
- ÓT 1892 = Eggert Ó. Brím, ed. 1892. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar. Reykjavík: Ísafoldarprentsmiðja.
- Holtsmark, Anne. 1927. Þórbjørn Hornklofes Glymdrápa. Oslo: Aschehoug & Co.