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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Sverða heiti — Þul SverðaIII

Anonymous Þulur

Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Sverða heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 789. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3194> (accessed 23 April 2024)

 

This þula (Þul Sverða) is recorded in mss R (main ms.), Tˣ, C, A and B (and 744ˣ) of Skm (SnE). In mss A and B the þula has the chapter heading Sverða heiti ‘Names for swords’, in A written in red ink. The list contains mostly heiti for ‘sword’, but the last three stanzas are devoted to heiti á sverði ‘names for parts of a sword’, with a corresponding subtitle in A and B (see st. 10, Note to [All]). In all mss, Þul Sverða is preceded by Þul Orrostu and followed by Þul Øxar. Most heiti from sts 1-6 of the present þula are recorded in LaufE (LaufE 1979, 302, 390; mss papp10ˣ(51r), 2368ˣ(127), 743ˣ(95v)). The variants show that the LaufE version of the þula belongs to the A, B redaction, and because the variants sometimes agree with A against B and vice versa, the ms. used by Magnús Ólafsson could have been a common antecendent of A, B (see LaufE 1979, 170-1). Hence variants from LaufE are discussed in the Notes below when pertinent. The þula was copied in RE 1665(Ll) from a LaufE ms. close to 743ˣ, and RE 1665 has not been considered in the present edition. Several of the sword-heiti in this þula allude to the technical process of pattern-welding (cf. Davidson 1962; Foote and Wilson 1980, 184), which characterised the manufacture of early Germanic swords. This process gave the sword blade a marbled or patterned appearance. It was produced by welding together thin bars of iron, which were then twisted and drawn out to form a laminated structure, which was later filed down and polished (e.g. vægir ‘wavy one’ st. 4/1, miðfáinn ‘one decorated in the middle’ st. 3/6).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
  3. Foote, Peter G. and D. M. Wilson. 1980. The Viking Achievement. 2nd edn. Great Civilizations Series. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
  4. Davidson, H. R. Ellis. 1962. The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England: Its Archaeology and Literature. Oxford: Clarendon.
  5. Internal references
  6. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
  7. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ 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=112> (accessed 23 April 2024)
  8. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Orrostu heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 786. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3193> (accessed 23 April 2024)
  9. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Øxar heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 813. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3195> (accessed 23 April 2024)
  10. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ 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=10928> (accessed 23 April 2024)
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