Note to Anon (HSig) 3II
[6] hringkofl inga ‘the ring-cowl of the king’: Inga is taken here as a noun meaning ‘king’ (see LP: ingi and Sturl Hrafn 15/4); it could also be a variant of the name Yngvi, which is used in poetry for various legendary kings and heroes (see LP: ingi, Yngvi). Skj B treats it as a pers. n. (of a sea-king) and translates hringkofl Inga ‘the ring-cowl of Ingi’ as ‘ring byrnie’ (ringbrynjen). However, hringkofl ‘ring-cowl’ does not appear to be part of a kenning; rather, it most likely denotes a specific type of protective armour. Kufl ‘cowl’ was a combination of a cloak and a hood worn by monks, and protective armour made from iron rings covering the head and shoulders and worn beneath helmets is known from ON and continental sources (see Falk 1914, 169-70). See also ‘Rüstung’ in RGA 25, 446.
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.
- 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.
- RGA = Beck, Heinrich and Holger Arbmann, eds. 1973-2008. Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde. 37 vols. Berlin: de Gruyter. 2nd rev. edn of Hoops 1911-19.
- Falk, Hjalmar, ed. 1914a. Sólarljóð. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II. Hist.-filos. kl. 7. 2 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
- Internal references
- Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrafnsmál 15’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 740.