Note to Eil Þdr 2III
[1] geðstrangrar (f. gen. sg.) ‘challenging’: The present edn follows mss R and W, even though the adj. geðstrangr, lit. ‘courageous’, is better suited to describe a person than a journey. Here geðstrangrar qualifies gǫngu ‘journey’, and its import must be ‘a journey that requires courage’, which is how Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SnE 1848-87, III; 1851, 7), Genzmer (1934, 72), Reichardt (1948, 334) and Kiil (1956, 96) interpret it. Geðstrangr m. nom. sg. (ms. Tˣ) could qualify Þórr, the subject of the sentence (preferred by Finnur Jónsson 1900b, 376; Skj B). This results in a hypometrical l. 1, which Finnur remedies by inserting the expletive particle of before lét ‘had’. Genzmer (1934, 72 anm.), invoking Kuhn (1929a, 37-8), rejects this on the grounds that the particle of cannot precede an auxiliary verb. Kock (NN §2502A, 2756D) takes a different approach and proposes geðstrangra gen. pl. ‘of the courageous ones’ which he connects with gǫngu ‘journey’. No ms. supports this reading, however.
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.
- SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1929a. Das Füllwort of-um im Altwestnordischen: Eine Untersuchung zur Geschichte der germanischen Präfixe: Ein Beitrag zur altgermanischen Metrik. Ergänzungsheft zur Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiet der indogermanischen Sprachen 8. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
- 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.
- Reichardt, Konstantin. 1948. ‘Die Thórsdrápa des Eilífr Goðrúnarson: Textinterpretation’. PMLA 63, 329-91.
- Genzmer, Felix. 1934. ‘Die ersten Gesätze der Thorsdrapa’. In [n. a.]. 1934. Studia Germanica tillägnade Ernst Albin Kock den 6 december 1934. Lund: Gleerup; Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard, 1934, 59-73.