Note to KrákÁsl Lv 11VIII (RagnSon 1) (Kráka/Áslaug)
[8] álf valmeyjar ‘the elf of the carnage-maiden [VALKYRIE > WARRIOR]’: The noun álfr m. ‘elf’, is a reasonably common base-word in warrior-kennings (see LP: alfr) in which the determinant (here valmeyjar, gen.) refers to some aspect of battle, as in this instance. Valmey f. ‘carnage-maiden’, clearly refers to a valkyrie, i.e. one of the handmaids of Óðinn whose function was to choose warriors slain in battle for admission to Valhǫll (see SnE 2005, 30; Eyv Hák 1/1I and Note there). On elves in Old Norse tradition, see Turville-Petre (1964, 230-2), Gunnell (2006), and Hall (2007, 21-53).
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.
- Turville-Petre, Gabriel. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Gunnell, Terry. 2006. ‘How Elvish Were the Álfar?’. In McKinnell et al. 2006, 321-8.
- Hall, Alaric. 2007. Elves in Anglo-Saxon England: Matters of Belief, Health, Gender and Identity. Woodbridge: Boydell.
- Internal references
- R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Hákonarmál 1’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 174.