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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Note to Þjóð Haustl 17III

[2-3, 4] ímunfǫlr íss randa ‘the battle-pale ice of shield-rims [SHIELD]’: An unusual shield-kenning, which may refer to the shining, metal parts of the shield-rim and decorations; alternatively, the adj. ímunfǫlr ‘battle-pale’ may allude to a shield’s having lost its bright colours through being battered and slashed in many fights or be associated with the pallor of death (so Marold 1983, 172 n. 417). Kennings with the base-word íss are usually sword-kennings (cf. Meissner 152, 171). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) separates ímun ‘battle’ from fǫlr ‘pale’, and attaches it to dísir (l. 4), understanding a tmesis, ímun-dísir ‘battle-dísir’, valkyries. There is neither ms. justification for this reading, nor is it necessary on syntactical or lexical grounds.

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
  3. 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.
  4. Marold, Edith. 1983. Kenningkunst: Ein Beitrag zu einer Poetik der Skaldendichtung. Quellen und Forschungen zur Sprach- und Kulturgeschichte der germanischen Völker, new ser. 80. Berlin: de Gruyter.

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