[6] stikleiðar ‘of the stake-path [FORD]’: Stik n. pl. refers to stakes driven into a river bottom, in this case probably to mark a ford (Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1851, 28). Less likely, the kenning refers to the river as a whole (Finnur Jónsson 1900b, 382; LP: stikleið; Kiil 1956, 110-11), since a river cannot be conceived of as a path of stakes. Davidson (1983, 586-7), adopting the interpretation of Kiil (ibid.), takes this as an image of the dangerous river, set with sharp stakes as a trap.
References
- Bibliography
- 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.
- Davidson, Daphne L. 1983. ‘Earl Hákon and his Poets’. D. Phil. thesis. Oxford.
- Finnur Jónsson. 1900b. ‘Þórsdrápa Eilífs Goðrúnarsonar’. Oversigt over det Kgl. Danske videnskabernes selskabs forhandlinger 1900, 369-410.
- Kiil, Vilhelm. 1956. ‘Eilífr Goðrúnarson’s Þórsdrápa’. ANF 71, 89-167.
- Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 1851. Tvö brot af Haustlaung og Þórsdrápa. Reykjavík: Prentað á kostnað skólasjóðsins.