Note to Þjóð Yt 14^I

[1, 3] lofsæll ôttungr Týs ‘the famous descendant of Týr <god> [= Swedish king]’: It is uncertain whether this refers to Týr, the god, or is simply the common noun týr ‘god’. All eds except for Noreen (1912b and Yt 1925) indicate, through capitalisation, that they think it refers to the god Týr. One argument for this might be that such periphrases referring to rulers occur in both Eyv Hál and Yt, e.g. ttungr Freys ‘Freyr’s kinsman’ (Eyv Hál 7/7, Yt 16/7), afspring Freys ‘Freyr’s offspring’ (Yt 10/11) or ttungr Týs ‘Týr’s kinsman’ (Eyv Hál 10/7, Yt 14/3). Baetke (1964, 122) takes Týr as a proper name, but thinks the phrase is just a variation on the device that refers to a ruler as ‘descendant of a god’, and in the light of Ingjaldr being called goðkynningr ‘the one descended from gods’ in Yt 20/7, this may be correct. It may also be possible to understand týs as gen. sg. of the appellative týr ‘god’ (Noreen 1912b; Yt 1925; Sundqvist 2005a, 102). Yet this remains doubtful because kennings referring to a ruler’s divine ancestry, except for goðkynningr, always name an individual god, as in the examples above or, e.g., niðr Yggs ‘descendant of Yggr <= Óðinn>’ (Eskál Vell 19/8).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Baetke, Walter. 1964. Yngvi und die Ynglinger: Eine quellenkritische Untersuchung über das nordische ‘Sakralkönigtum’. Sitzungsberichte der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Leipzig, Phil.-Hist. Kl. 109/3. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
3. Yt 1925 = Noreen, Adolf, ed. 1925. Ynglingatal: Text, översättning och kommentar. Stockholm: Lagerström.
4. Noreen, Adolf. 1912b. ‘Forsök till en rekonstruktion af Ynglingatal jämte øfversättning’. In Studier tillägnade Karl Warburg på hans sextioårsdag af vänner och lärjungar. Stockholm: Norstedt, 125-35.
5. Sundqvist, Olof. 2005a. ‘Aspects of Rulership Ideology in Early Scandinavia – with Particular References to the Skaldic Poem Ynglingatal’. In Erkens 2005, 87-124.
6. Internal references
7. Russell Poole 2012, ‘ Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal’ 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. 195. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1186> (accessed 23 April 2024)
8. Edith Marold with the assistance of Vivian Busch, Jana Krüger, Ann-Dörte Kyas and Katharina Seidel, translated from German by John Foulks 2012, ‘ Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal’ 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. 3. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1440> (accessed 23 April 2024)
9. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 19’ 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. 306.
10. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 10’ 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. 208.
11. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 7’ 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. 205.
12. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 10’ 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. 25.
13. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 14’ 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. 31.
14. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 16’ 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. 36.
15. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 20’ 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. 44.