Note to Hjþ Lv 6^VIII (HjǪ 13)

[8] in aumasta skauð ‘most wretched cunt’: A gross insult, because the word skauð often refers to the female genitalia, specifically the vagina (cf. Fritzner: skauð 1 and citations there as well as Note to Ǫrv 46/10), just as words for ‘sword’ and ‘knife’ can refer to the penis, and the mention of Snarvendill touching Ýma here is likely to carry sexual symbolism as well as being the instrument whereby Hjálmþér threatens to cut off her hand. The saga’s prose text following this stanza makes it perfectly clear that Ýma understands Hjálmþér’s idiom of sexualised aggression, because she responds by inviting him to have intercourse with her.

References

© Skaldic Project Academic Body and Brepols, unless otherwise noted. Database structure and interface developed by Tarrin Wills. All users of material on this database are reminded that its content may be either subject to copyright restrictions or is the property of the custodians of linked databases that have given permission for members of the skaldic project to use their material for research purposes. Those users who have been given access to as yet unpublished material are further reminded that they may not use, publish or otherwise manipulate such material except with the express permission of the individual editor of the material in question and the General Editor of the volume in which the material is to be published. Applications for permission to use such material should be made in the first instance to the General Editor of the volume in question. All information that appears in the published volumes has been thoroughly reviewed. If you believe some information here is incorrect please contact Tarrin Wills with full details.

Cookies on our website

Note to Hjþ Lv 6^VIII (HjǪ 13)

References

Log in

Cookies on our website

Note to Hjþ Lv 6VIII (HjǪ 13)

References

Log in

Note to Hjþ Lv 6^VIII (HjǪ 13)