[2] heinflets ‘of the whetstone-platform [SWORD]’: The word flet referred originally to the floor of a house (cf. flatr ‘flat’), though it is attested only in the metaphorical senses ‘set of rooms, house, raised platform, bed (on the floor)’. It may be the last of these meanings that is intended, given the parallel sword-kenning beðr ryðfjónar ‘bed of the rust-enemy [WHETSTONE > SWORD]’ (Anon (ÓT) 6/1, 3; see Meissner 155, 163). In view of the kenning gætir grefs ‘minder of the hoe [FARMER]’ in st. 7/5, de Vries (1932-3, 172) suggests that heinflet may refer not to a sword but to a sickle, but this fits expected patterns less well.
References
- Bibliography
- Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
- Vries, Jan de. 1932-3. ‘Über Sigvats Álfablót-Strophen’. APS 7, 169-80.
- Internal references
- Kate Heslop and Diana Whaley 2012, ‘ Anonymous, Lausavísur from Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar in mesta’ 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. 1082. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3068> (accessed 26 April 2024)