Note to Refr Frag 1III
[4] ǫs-Freyr ‘the tumult-Freyr <god> [WARRIOR]’: The mss offer different variants of the first element of this cpd: ‘es-’ (R, Tˣ), ‘as-’ (W, 2368ˣ), ‘el-’ (A, C), and ‘egg-’ (U). As all of them cause problems, it is difficult to opt for one of them. (a) This edn adopts the reading ‘as-’ (W, 2368ˣ) normalized to ǫs ‘tumult, battle’ (see LP: ǫs) as did Finnur Jónsson (Skj B and LP: es-Freyr). He follows a suggestion by Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 317 n. 285), who calls attention to the uncommon word ǫs ‘tumult’, which is attested in poetry (see LP: ǫs) but not in Old Norse prose (but cf. ModNorw. as ‘toil, racket’). But even Konráð Gíslason and Finnur Jónsson (LP: es-Freyr) expressed doubts about this interpretation. (b) Kock (NN §1128) adopts él-Freyr ‘the storm-Freyr’ (so A, C) as a warrior kenning. Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 193) considers this option as well, although he settles on *as-Freyr in the text of his edn (SnE 1998, I, 65); he interprets as- or él-Freyr as a warrior-kenning and translates it as ‘tumult-/storm- (of battle) Freyr’ (SnE 1998, II, 236, 265). However, él does not mean ‘battle’ but ‘storm’ and though it does appear as a base-word in battle-kennings, it always requires a determinant (‘weapon’, ‘valkyrie’, ‘sea-king’ etc.). (c) It is not possible to construe a warrior-kenning with egg- (U), as egg- is part of the cpd eggþeys ‘of the sword-dew’. (d) Another solution could be to opt for ‘es’ from the main ms. R (also found in Tˣ), normalised to ess ‘steed’. Ess is a loanword whose origin has been explained in various ways – either from OE ess (so Fritzner: ess, but the word cannot be found in Old English dictionaries) or from MLG örs, ors (so AEW: ers, ess). Ess-Freyr ‘the steed-Freyr’ could be taken as an unusual ad hoc kenning for ‘lover’ formed to suit the situation (sexual activity). Cf. the sexual symbolism in Bósa saga, in which intercourse is expressed in Ek vil brynna fola mínum í vínkeldu þinni ‘I want to water my foal in your wine-well’ (Bósa saga ch. 11, Jiriczek 1893, 39-40). The choice of ess might be supported by its presence in the main ms. and by its status as lectio difficilior. The problem is the very unusual kenning.
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.
- 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.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- Jiriczek, Otto L., ed. 1893. Die Bósa-Saga in zwei Fassungen nebst Proben aus den Bósa-Rímur. Strassburg: Karl J. Trübner.
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Bósa saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 25. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=46> (accessed 26 April 2024)
- R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2022, ‘Njáls saga 18 (Skarpheðinn Njálsson, Lausavísur 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1243.