[7] ámátligastar ‘the most overwhelming’: In poetry the adj. ámátligr is only used of giants and a valkyrie (HHund I 38/3) and occurs in a similar stanza in HjǪ, in which the hero of that saga asks a giantess who she is (HjǪ 11, FSGJ 4, 205); in Þul Jǫtna I 6/7III it is also predicated of giants. Ámátligr is derived from the noun máttr ‘might, strength’ and the prefix á- has intensifying character, hence ámátligr can be translated as ‘overwhelmingly strong’. It is sometimes interpreted as meaning ‘abominable, frightful’ (cf. Gering 1903: á-mátlegr; Heggstad et al. 2008: ámátligr; ÍO: ámát(t)legur).
References
- Bibliography
- ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
- FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
- Gering, Hugo. 1903. Vollständiges Wörterbuch zu den Liedern der Edda. Halle: Waisenhaus. Rpt. 1971. Hildesheim: Olms.
- Internal references
- 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 488. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=49> (accessed 19 April 2024)
- Richard L. Harris (ed.) 2017, ‘Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis 11 (Hjálmþér Ingason, Lausavísur 5)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 503.