Note to Eil Þdr 15III
[All]: The content of this stanza essentially corresponds to Snorri’s narrative in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 25). As it goes, Þórr, seated in a chair, is squashed against the roof by the giantesses and defends himself by pressing the staff Gríðarvǫlr against the roof. In doing so he breaks the backs of the two giantesses under his chair. However, all editorial attempts to produce an exact match between the content of the stanza and the story as it is told in Skm have led to unacceptable textual interpretations of the stanza. The present edn assumes that Snorri’s narrative could be based on a variant version of the myth that does not fully agree with the stanza. The relatively simple interpretation given here, with minimal emendations, differs somewhat from Snorri’s version. According to the stanza, Þórr, the thunder god, armed with bolts of lightning that cause a rockslide, defends himself against the giantesses and breaks their backs.
References
- Bibliography
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ 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=112> (accessed 25 April 2024)