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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Note to Eil Þdr 12III

[2] sverðs liðhat*ar ‘haters of the help of the sword [= Þórr and Þjálfi]’: The emendation from háttar/hattar to hatar ‘haters, enemies’ is necessary because neither háttar (gen. sg. of hôttr ‘custom, manner’ or nom./acc. pl. f. of háttr ‘dangerous’) nor hattar (gen. sg. of hǫttr ‘hat’) makes satisfactory sense. Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s (1851, 23) emendation of the word to liðhatar ‘enemies of help’ has been adopted by all eds except Kiil (1956; see below). The paraphrase sverðs liðhatar ‘haters of the help of the sword’ refers to Þórr and Þjálfi, who enter the realm of the giants unarmed. The expression cannot be called a kenning, since it does not follow a typical kenning pattern and also lacks a specific referent. Kiil (1956, 132) interprets liðháttar as ‘companionship’ and connects it to sifjaðir ‘joined’ (his conjecture for the mss’ ‘sifuna’).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Kiil, Vilhelm. 1956. ‘Eilífr Goðrúnarson’s Þórsdrápa’. ANF 71, 89-167.

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