Note to ESk Øxfl 3III
[5, 6, 7] sáðs Fróða; fóstrgœðandi svans gunnar ‘Fróði’s <legendary king’s> seed [GOLD]; the provisions-increaser of the swan of battle [RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIOR]’: The first kenning refers to the story told in Grottasǫngr (Grott, SnE 1998, I, 51-8) about two giantesses, Fenja and Menja, who grind gold under duress for the legendary king Fróði of Denmark (see NN §956). Sáð ‘seed’ must be a variation of ‘flour’ or ‘grain’ here. See also Note to Anon Bjark 4/3. Skj B construes the kennings as Fróða fóstr-sáð ‘Fróði’s fosterling-seed’ (i.e. ‘Fenja and Menja’s seed’, with tmesis) and gœðandi svans gunnar ‘feeder of the swan of battle’ (so also SnE 1998, I, 44, II, 278, 298). That interpretation is less preferable because it creates an awkward tripartite odd line of Type D.
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.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Bjarkamál in fornu 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 500.
- Not published: do not cite ()