Note to Refr Frag 2III
[All]: The prose context does not contribute much to the interpretation of the couplet, because it consists of a long, consecutive string of substitutions of homonyms and synonyms intended to demonstrate that ullarflóki ‘felted wool’ can replace tré ‘wood’. This substitution process is called rekit ‘extended’ in LaufE, which, however, is incompatible with the way the word rekit is used in Snorri’s Ht (SnE 2007, 5), where the term denotes multisegmental kennings. Thus according to the chain of replacements, Grundi is supposed to be plucking apart a knot of wool rather than chopping wood, as the text appears to say at first glance. This extreme use of substitution by synonyms and homonyms, however, seems to be more of a language affectation of the late Middle Ages than something that could contribute to an understanding of these two lines by Refr.
References
- Bibliography
- SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Háttatal’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=165> (accessed 23 April 2024)
- Not published: do not cite (RunVI)
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=10928> (accessed 23 April 2024)