Note to Bragi Rdr 12III
[1-2] á Svǫlnis salpenningi ‘on the penny of the hall of Svǫlnir <= Óðinn> [(lit. ‘hall-penny of Svǫlnir’) = Valhǫll > SHIELD]’: The understanding of this inverted kenning depends on one’s knowledge of an Old Norse mythological ‘fact’, that Valhǫll, Óðinn’s hall, was roofed with shields, as is recorded in Gylf (SnE 2005, 7), where it is stated that the shields were gilded. Cf. the similar shield-kenning Sváfnis salnæfrar ‘the hall-shingles of Sváfnir <= Óðinn>’ in Þhorn Harkv 11/3I. Viking-Age shields were round, and often painted in bright colours, hence the appropriateness of the coin analogy. The reference to Valhǫll may also be intentionally pointed in this narrative of a valkyrie-like woman, possibly aided by Óðinn, sending a group of warriors to their deaths.
References
- Bibliography
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ 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=113> (accessed 20 April 2024)
- R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, Haraldskvæði (Hrafnsmál) 11’ 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. 106.