Anon Stríðk 1^III

Þess ‘of this’

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1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

sitk ‘I live’

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sitja (verb): sit

þægra ‘of delightful’

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þægr (adj.): acceptable, delightful

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hnossa ‘ornaments’

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1. hnoss (noun f.; °; -ir): treasure

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Þrúðr ‘Þrúðr’

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Þrúðr (noun f.): Þrúðr

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notes

[2] in prúða Þrúðr ‘beautiful Þrúðr <goddess>’: Lit. ‘the beautiful Þrúðr’.

ávalt ‘always’

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ávallt (adv.): always

in ‘’

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2. inn (art.): the

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notes

[2] in prúða Þrúðr ‘beautiful Þrúðr <goddess>’: Lit. ‘the beautiful Þrúðr’.

prúða ‘Beautiful’

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prúðr (adj.; °superl. -astr): magnificent, proud

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notes

[2] in prúða Þrúðr ‘beautiful Þrúðr <goddess>’: Lit. ‘the beautiful Þrúðr’.

hverjum ‘of every’

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2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every

[3] hverjum: at hverjum 758ˣ

leik ‘pleasure’

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1. leikr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -/-i; -ar): sport, play

[3] leik: so all others, ‘lick’ or ‘leck’ 2368ˣ

á ‘in’

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3. á (prep.): on, at

hráka ‘the spittle’

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hráki (noun m.; °-a): spittle

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notes

[3, 4] hráka Gleipnis tuggu ‘the spittle of Gleipnir’s <magic fetter’s> mouthful [= Fenrir > = Ván <river> (ván ‘hope’)]’: Magnús Ólafsson explains this ofljóst kenning in the prose immediately following the stanza (LaufE 1979, 375) and also alludes to it in a note to a poem he sent to Arngrímur Jónsson (LaufE 1979, 458 n. 4). Gleipnir is the name of a magic fetter with which the gods bound the wolf Fenrir (Gylf, SnE 2005, 27-9). They placed a sword between the captive wolf’s upper and lower jaws, and from his open mouth a stream of saliva ran out: þat er á sú er Ván heitir ‘that is the river called Ván’. As the common noun ván means ‘hope’, the whole kenning is ofljóst for this concept and the main clause of the helmingr is to be understood as sitk ávalt á ván þess, at … ‘I live always in hope of this, that …’. Ván is named in Grí 28/8 among mythic rivers, and listed in Þul Á 1/3.

hnugginn ‘deprived’

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hnugginn (adj./verb p.p.): deprived

[4] hnugginn: hnuggin 743ˣ

Gleipnis ‘of Gleipnir’s’

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Gleipnir (noun m.): Gleipnir

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notes

[3, 4] hráka Gleipnis tuggu ‘the spittle of Gleipnir’s <magic fetter’s> mouthful [= Fenrir > = Ván <river> (ván ‘hope’)]’: Magnús Ólafsson explains this ofljóst kenning in the prose immediately following the stanza (LaufE 1979, 375) and also alludes to it in a note to a poem he sent to Arngrímur Jónsson (LaufE 1979, 458 n. 4). Gleipnir is the name of a magic fetter with which the gods bound the wolf Fenrir (Gylf, SnE 2005, 27-9). They placed a sword between the captive wolf’s upper and lower jaws, and from his open mouth a stream of saliva ran out: þat er á sú er Ván heitir ‘that is the river called Ván’. As the common noun ván means ‘hope’, the whole kenning is ofljóst for this concept and the main clause of the helmingr is to be understood as sitk ávalt á ván þess, at … ‘I live always in hope of this, that …’. Ván is named in Grí 28/8 among mythic rivers, and listed in Þul Á 1/3.

Gleipnis ‘of Gleipnir’s’

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Gleipnir (noun m.): Gleipnir

kennings

notes

[3, 4] hráka Gleipnis tuggu ‘the spittle of Gleipnir’s <magic fetter’s> mouthful [= Fenrir > = Ván <river> (ván ‘hope’)]’: Magnús Ólafsson explains this ofljóst kenning in the prose immediately following the stanza (LaufE 1979, 375) and also alludes to it in a note to a poem he sent to Arngrímur Jónsson (LaufE 1979, 458 n. 4). Gleipnir is the name of a magic fetter with which the gods bound the wolf Fenrir (Gylf, SnE 2005, 27-9). They placed a sword between the captive wolf’s upper and lower jaws, and from his open mouth a stream of saliva ran out: þat er á sú er Ván heitir ‘that is the river called Ván’. As the common noun ván means ‘hope’, the whole kenning is ofljóst for this concept and the main clause of the helmingr is to be understood as sitk ávalt á ván þess, at … ‘I live always in hope of this, that …’. Ván is named in Grí 28/8 among mythic rivers, and listed in Þul Á 1/3.

tuggu ‘mouthful’

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tugga (noun f.; °-u): [mouthful]

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notes

[3, 4] hráka Gleipnis tuggu ‘the spittle of Gleipnir’s <magic fetter’s> mouthful [= Fenrir > = Ván <river> (ván ‘hope’)]’: Magnús Ólafsson explains this ofljóst kenning in the prose immediately following the stanza (LaufE 1979, 375) and also alludes to it in a note to a poem he sent to Arngrímur Jónsson (LaufE 1979, 458 n. 4). Gleipnir is the name of a magic fetter with which the gods bound the wolf Fenrir (Gylf, SnE 2005, 27-9). They placed a sword between the captive wolf’s upper and lower jaws, and from his open mouth a stream of saliva ran out: þat er á sú er Ván heitir ‘that is the river called Ván’. As the common noun ván means ‘hope’, the whole kenning is ofljóst for this concept and the main clause of the helmingr is to be understood as sitk ávalt á ván þess, at … ‘I live always in hope of this, that …’. Ván is named in Grí 28/8 among mythic rivers, and listed in Þul Á 1/3.

tuggu ‘mouthful’

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tugga (noun f.; °-u): [mouthful]

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notes

[3, 4] hráka Gleipnis tuggu ‘the spittle of Gleipnir’s <magic fetter’s> mouthful [= Fenrir > = Ván <river> (ván ‘hope’)]’: Magnús Ólafsson explains this ofljóst kenning in the prose immediately following the stanza (LaufE 1979, 375) and also alludes to it in a note to a poem he sent to Arngrímur Jónsson (LaufE 1979, 458 n. 4). Gleipnir is the name of a magic fetter with which the gods bound the wolf Fenrir (Gylf, SnE 2005, 27-9). They placed a sword between the captive wolf’s upper and lower jaws, and from his open mouth a stream of saliva ran out: þat er á sú er Ván heitir ‘that is the river called Ván’. As the common noun ván means ‘hope’, the whole kenning is ofljóst for this concept and the main clause of the helmingr is to be understood as sitk ávalt á ván þess, at … ‘I live always in hope of this, that …’. Ván is named in Grí 28/8 among mythic rivers, and listed in Þul Á 1/3.

at ‘that’

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4. at (conj.): that

urð ‘of the stone-heap’

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urð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): stones < urðhœingr (noun m.): [stone-heap salmon]

[5] urðhœings: ‘vr hængz’ 2368ˣ, ‘vrhængs’ 743ˣ, ‘urhængs’ 758ˣ

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notes

[5] urðhœings ‘of the stone-heap salmon [SERPENT]’: The mss read urhængs, which does not make sense. Árni Magnússon added ‘ur urd’ above ‘vr’ (which he had underlined) in 743ˣ, and subsequent eds have adopted the hap. leg. cpd urðhœings, in which the first element is urð ‘heap of stones’; the salmon of the heap of stones is a snake; together with jarðar ‘of the earth’ a gold-kenning is formed, and the nýtir ýtendr ‘capable givers’ (l. 6) of gold are generous men. On the metrically necessary form urðhœings rather than urðhœngs, see Nj 1875-89, II, 315-16.

urð ‘of the stone-heap’

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urð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): stones < urðhœingr (noun m.): [stone-heap salmon]

[5] urðhœings: ‘vr hængz’ 2368ˣ, ‘vrhængs’ 743ˣ, ‘urhængs’ 758ˣ

kennings

notes

[5] urðhœings ‘of the stone-heap salmon [SERPENT]’: The mss read urhængs, which does not make sense. Árni Magnússon added ‘ur urd’ above ‘vr’ (which he had underlined) in 743ˣ, and subsequent eds have adopted the hap. leg. cpd urðhœings, in which the first element is urð ‘heap of stones’; the salmon of the heap of stones is a snake; together with jarðar ‘of the earth’ a gold-kenning is formed, and the nýtir ýtendr ‘capable givers’ (l. 6) of gold are generous men. On the metrically necessary form urðhœings rather than urðhœngs, see Nj 1875-89, II, 315-16.

urð ‘of the stone-heap’

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urð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): stones < urðhœingr (noun m.): [stone-heap salmon]

[5] urðhœings: ‘vr hængz’ 2368ˣ, ‘vrhængs’ 743ˣ, ‘urhængs’ 758ˣ

kennings

notes

[5] urðhœings ‘of the stone-heap salmon [SERPENT]’: The mss read urhængs, which does not make sense. Árni Magnússon added ‘ur urd’ above ‘vr’ (which he had underlined) in 743ˣ, and subsequent eds have adopted the hap. leg. cpd urðhœings, in which the first element is urð ‘heap of stones’; the salmon of the heap of stones is a snake; together with jarðar ‘of the earth’ a gold-kenning is formed, and the nýtir ýtendr ‘capable givers’ (l. 6) of gold are generous men. On the metrically necessary form urðhœings rather than urðhœngs, see Nj 1875-89, II, 315-16.

hœings ‘salmon’

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hœingr (noun m.; °-s): [salmon] < urðhœingr (noun m.): [stone-heap salmon]

[5] urðhœings: ‘vr hængz’ 2368ˣ, ‘vrhængs’ 743ˣ, ‘urhængs’ 758ˣ

kennings

notes

[5] urðhœings ‘of the stone-heap salmon [SERPENT]’: The mss read urhængs, which does not make sense. Árni Magnússon added ‘ur urd’ above ‘vr’ (which he had underlined) in 743ˣ, and subsequent eds have adopted the hap. leg. cpd urðhœings, in which the first element is urð ‘heap of stones’; the salmon of the heap of stones is a snake; together with jarðar ‘of the earth’ a gold-kenning is formed, and the nýtir ýtendr ‘capable givers’ (l. 6) of gold are generous men. On the metrically necessary form urðhœings rather than urðhœngs, see Nj 1875-89, II, 315-16.

hœings ‘salmon’

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hœingr (noun m.; °-s): [salmon] < urðhœingr (noun m.): [stone-heap salmon]

[5] urðhœings: ‘vr hængz’ 2368ˣ, ‘vrhængs’ 743ˣ, ‘urhængs’ 758ˣ

kennings

notes

[5] urðhœings ‘of the stone-heap salmon [SERPENT]’: The mss read urhængs, which does not make sense. Árni Magnússon added ‘ur urd’ above ‘vr’ (which he had underlined) in 743ˣ, and subsequent eds have adopted the hap. leg. cpd urðhœings, in which the first element is urð ‘heap of stones’; the salmon of the heap of stones is a snake; together with jarðar ‘of the earth’ a gold-kenning is formed, and the nýtir ýtendr ‘capable givers’ (l. 6) of gold are generous men. On the metrically necessary form urðhœings rather than urðhœngs, see Nj 1875-89, II, 315-16.

hœings ‘salmon’

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hœingr (noun m.; °-s): [salmon] < urðhœingr (noun m.): [stone-heap salmon]

[5] urðhœings: ‘vr hængz’ 2368ˣ, ‘vrhængs’ 743ˣ, ‘urhængs’ 758ˣ

kennings

notes

[5] urðhœings ‘of the stone-heap salmon [SERPENT]’: The mss read urhængs, which does not make sense. Árni Magnússon added ‘ur urd’ above ‘vr’ (which he had underlined) in 743ˣ, and subsequent eds have adopted the hap. leg. cpd urðhœings, in which the first element is urð ‘heap of stones’; the salmon of the heap of stones is a snake; together with jarðar ‘of the earth’ a gold-kenning is formed, and the nýtir ýtendr ‘capable givers’ (l. 6) of gold are generous men. On the metrically necessary form urðhœings rather than urðhœngs, see Nj 1875-89, II, 315-16.

jarðar ‘of the earth’

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jǫrð (noun f.; °jarðar, dat. -u; jarðir/jarðar(DN I (1367) 304Š)): ground, earth

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jarðar ‘of the earth’

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jǫrð (noun f.; °jarðar, dat. -u; jarðir/jarðar(DN I (1367) 304Š)): ground, earth

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ýtendr ‘givers’

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ýtandi (noun m.): giver, launcher

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fyr ‘in my’

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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.

notes

[6] fyr mér ‘in my presence’: Lit. ‘before me’. Some sort of formal declaration of the woman’s status as a widow seems to be envisaged.

mér ‘presence’

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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

notes

[6] fyr mér ‘in my presence’: Lit. ‘before me’. Some sort of formal declaration of the woman’s status as a widow seems to be envisaged.

nýtir ‘capable’

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nýtr (adj.; °compar. -ri, superl. nýztr/nýtastr): useful, able

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greipar ‘of the hand’

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greip (noun f.; °; -r, -ar): hand, talon

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greipar ‘of the hand’

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greip (noun f.; °; -r, -ar): hand, talon

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svells ‘ice’

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svell (noun n.; °; -): ice

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svells ‘ice’

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svell (noun n.; °; -): ice

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ins ‘of the’

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2. inn (art.): the

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ins ‘of the’

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2. inn (art.): the

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gjalla ‘ringing’

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2. gjallr (adj.): resounding

[7] gjalla: ‘[…]’ 758ˣ

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gjalla ‘ringing’

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2. gjallr (adj.): resounding

[7] gjalla: ‘[…]’ 758ˣ

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Gefn ‘the Gefn’

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Gefn (noun f.): Gefn

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stríð ‘a grief’

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2. stríð (noun n.; °-s; -): affliction < stríðkeri (noun m.): [a grief-prick]

[8] stríðkera: ‘[…]’ 758ˣ

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notes

[8] stríðkera ‘a grief-prick [WIDOW]’: The meaning of this hap. leg. cpd and the way in which it can mean ‘widow’, as Magnús Ólafsson indicated it must in his prose commentary to Stríðk (LaufE 1979, 375), has been a source of puzzlement to some eds. Magnús understood the word keri as like hæll ‘heel’ in Egill Lv 48/5-6^V (Eg 132), in that each had a double sense and that sense included the meaning ‘widow’ in each case. That is clearly why he followed the citation of Egill’s lines with Stríðk. He seems to have construed kera with jarðar ‘of the earth’ (l. 5), however, which cannot be correct, as LP (1860): stríðkeri points out. LP: stríðkeri confirms the sense of stríðkeri as parallel to hæll (‘heel’ and ‘widow whose husband has been slain’), but Finnur Jónsson admits he does not understand how this can be. Other compounds with ‑keri (cf. AEW: keri 2, 3) as second element indicate that this word, whose basic sense seems to be ‘pointed instrument, beam, probe’, comes to refer to a man or male creature; cf. gjaldkeri ‘steward’, sælkeri ‘wealthy man’, rjúpkeri ‘cock ptarmigan’ (Kock NN §2196B anm. comes to the same conclusion). The same must apply to stríðkeri, even though the cpd refers to a woman not a man. AEW: hæll 3 suggests that hæll got its poetic meaning ‘widow’ from skaldic word-play on homonyms (see Þul Kvenna I l/7 Note), but an alternative explanation that may help one to understand how stríðkeri can also mean ‘widow’ may be that when the noun hæll refers to a widow in poetry, it arguably depends on the prose sense ‘pole, pillar’, which this word has independently of the sense ‘heel’ (though ‘heel’ meaning the projecting hinder part of the foot also refers to a protruding part of the body). The two (or three) words are thus homonyms, whether or not they derive from the same or different roots, upon which opinion is divided (AEW: hæll 1, 2 and 3). Keri also has a base meaning of ‘pole, stick, pointed instrument’, just as hæll does. It also seems likely that keri has the extended sense of ‘male sexual organ, prick’ in all the Old Norse compounds in which it appears (as Fritzner: keri suggests; so also Kock NN §2196B anm. who makes the phallic connection even more obvious by proposing that stríð- is an error for stirð- ‘stiff, hard’). It could plausibly be argued that hæll ‘pole, pillar’ also had a phallic sense that was employed in the extension of the word’s meaning to ‘widow’. In the case of the cpd stríðkeri the first element, stríð ‘grief, sorrow’, makes the connection with the mourning process. It may seem perverse to refer to a woman who has lost her man as a ‘grief-prick’, but it is possible that, both in this case and in the ofljóst use of hæll, the reference to a woman in terms of masculine imagery may be a way of expressing that woman’s relative freedom from the constraints of the marriage relationship, which is in fact the very point of Anon Stríðk. The speaker of the stanza hopes that the woman he desires is a widow, because then he may have a better chance of entering into a relationship with her (cf. Grg Ib, 29-30; Dennis et al. 1980-2000, II, 29, 403).

kera ‘prick’

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1. -keri (noun m.) < stríðkeri (noun m.): [a grief-prick]

[8] stríðkera: ‘[…]’ 758ˣ

kennings

notes

[8] stríðkera ‘a grief-prick [WIDOW]’: The meaning of this hap. leg. cpd and the way in which it can mean ‘widow’, as Magnús Ólafsson indicated it must in his prose commentary to Stríðk (LaufE 1979, 375), has been a source of puzzlement to some eds. Magnús understood the word keri as like hæll ‘heel’ in Egill Lv 48/5-6^V (Eg 132), in that each had a double sense and that sense included the meaning ‘widow’ in each case. That is clearly why he followed the citation of Egill’s lines with Stríðk. He seems to have construed kera with jarðar ‘of the earth’ (l. 5), however, which cannot be correct, as LP (1860): stríðkeri points out. LP: stríðkeri confirms the sense of stríðkeri as parallel to hæll (‘heel’ and ‘widow whose husband has been slain’), but Finnur Jónsson admits he does not understand how this can be. Other compounds with ‑keri (cf. AEW: keri 2, 3) as second element indicate that this word, whose basic sense seems to be ‘pointed instrument, beam, probe’, comes to refer to a man or male creature; cf. gjaldkeri ‘steward’, sælkeri ‘wealthy man’, rjúpkeri ‘cock ptarmigan’ (Kock NN §2196B anm. comes to the same conclusion). The same must apply to stríðkeri, even though the cpd refers to a woman not a man. AEW: hæll 3 suggests that hæll got its poetic meaning ‘widow’ from skaldic word-play on homonyms (see Þul Kvenna I l/7 Note), but an alternative explanation that may help one to understand how stríðkeri can also mean ‘widow’ may be that when the noun hæll refers to a widow in poetry, it arguably depends on the prose sense ‘pole, pillar’, which this word has independently of the sense ‘heel’ (though ‘heel’ meaning the projecting hinder part of the foot also refers to a protruding part of the body). The two (or three) words are thus homonyms, whether or not they derive from the same or different roots, upon which opinion is divided (AEW: hæll 1, 2 and 3). Keri also has a base meaning of ‘pole, stick, pointed instrument’, just as hæll does. It also seems likely that keri has the extended sense of ‘male sexual organ, prick’ in all the Old Norse compounds in which it appears (as Fritzner: keri suggests; so also Kock NN §2196B anm. who makes the phallic connection even more obvious by proposing that stríð- is an error for stirð- ‘stiff, hard’). It could plausibly be argued that hæll ‘pole, pillar’ also had a phallic sense that was employed in the extension of the word’s meaning to ‘widow’. In the case of the cpd stríðkeri the first element, stríð ‘grief, sorrow’, makes the connection with the mourning process. It may seem perverse to refer to a woman who has lost her man as a ‘grief-prick’, but it is possible that, both in this case and in the ofljóst use of hæll, the reference to a woman in terms of masculine imagery may be a way of expressing that woman’s relative freedom from the constraints of the marriage relationship, which is in fact the very point of Anon Stríðk. The speaker of the stanza hopes that the woman he desires is a widow, because then he may have a better chance of entering into a relationship with her (cf. Grg Ib, 29-30; Dennis et al. 1980-2000, II, 29, 403).

nefni ‘may name’

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2. nefna (verb): mention, name, call

[8] nefni: nafni 2368ˣ, 743ˣ, ‘[…]’ 758ˣ

notes

[8] nefni ‘may name’: Pres. subj. 3rd pers. pl. of nefna ‘name’. Both 2368ˣ and 743ˣ read nafni, dat. sg. of nafn ‘name’ (758ˣ’s reading is illegible) but a verb is required here, and there is no other in the stanza’s second helmingr. Kock (NN §3246) proposes the mss’ nafni may derive from an otherwise unattested ON verb *nafna, but prints nefni in Skald.