Þul Grýlu 1III
Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Grýlu heiti 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 966.
Skolli ‘Skulker’
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skolli (noun m.; °-a): fox, trickery
notes
[1] skolli (m.) ‘skulker’: A folklore fox (cf. the weak verb skolla ‘deceive, trick, ridicule’) that often appears in Icelandic nursery tales and games (cf. CVC: skolli). The word is not found in skaldic verse.
slapparðr ‘weakling’
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slapparðr (noun m.): [weakling]
notes
[1] slapparðr (m.) ‘weakling’: A hap. leg. derived from slappi m. ‘weakling, lanky fellow’, which may have been a word of abuse.
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
notes
[2] Skaufhali: Lit. ‘tassel-tail’, from skauf n. ‘sheaf of corn’ (hence metaphorically ‘sheaf-like tail’, ‘fox’s brush’; cf. CVC: skauf) and hali m. ‘tail’; cf. skaufi ‘tailed one’, l. 4 below). Skaufhali is first and foremost known as the protagonist of Skaufhala bálkr (‘Bálkr about Tassel-tail’; Svart SkaufVIII). In that poem, the fox is humanised as an old outlaw mortally wounded on his last hunt, and he recites his ævikviða ‘life-poem’ to his wife, detailing his life before he dies.
skollr ‘deceiver’
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skollr (noun m.): [deceiver]
notes
[3] skollr (m.) ‘deceiver’: An otherwise unattested variant of skolli ‘skulker’ (l. 1 above).
melrakki ‘arctic fox’
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melrakki (noun m.): [arctic fox]
notes
[3] melrakki (m.) ‘arctic fox’: The literal meaning of this word is ‘sand-bank dog’ (LP: melrakki ‘stenbankens hund’). The word does not occur in Old Norse poetry.
skaufi ‘tailed one’
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1. skaufi (noun m.): [tailed one]
notes
[4] skaufi (m.) ‘tailed one’: This word is also attested in the rímur as a heiti for ‘fox’ (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: 2. skaufi). See also Skaufhali in l. 2 above.
Grýla ‘Grýla’
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grýla (noun f.; °-u; -ur): grýla
notes
[4] Grýla: A folklore vixen, an ogre that kidnaps children (see Introduction). It is described as follows in Loptr LvIV: Hér ferr Grýla | í garð ofan | ok hefr á sér | hala fimtán ‘Here comes Grýla down to the yard, and it has fifteen tails’. For the meaning of this name, cf. MHG griuwel ‘fear’ (ÍO: grýla).
enn ‘further’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
es ‘there is’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
refr ‘fox’
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refr (noun m.; °-s; -ar): fox
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
Skrǫggr ‘Skrǫggr’
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skrǫggr (noun m.): skrǫggr
notes
[5] Skrǫggr: A son of Grýla and a folklore monster giant or goblin famous from Icelandic nursery tales (cf. New Norw. skrogg ‘wolf’, ModSwed. dialects skragge ‘devil’; see ÍO: skröggur 1). The name does not occur in skaldic poetry.
ǫldungr ‘elder’
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ǫldungr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): elder
notes
[6] ǫldungr (m.) ‘elder’: Cf. ǫldungr m. ‘famous man’. This word is also a term for ‘ox’ (see Þul Øxna 3/3 and Note there), but it is not found elsewhere as a heiti for ‘fox’.
dáinn ‘deceased one’
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Dáinn (noun m.): Dáinn, deceased one
notes
[6] dáinn (m.) ‘deceased one’: P. p. of the strong verb deyja ‘die’. As a term for ‘fox’, the heiti is mentioned only in this þula. It is also a heiti for ‘dwarf’ (in the Hb version of Vsp, Hb 1892-6, 188-9) and for ‘stag’ (see Note to Þul Hjartar l. 3).
laufafettir ‘leaf-pacer’
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laufafettir (noun m.): [leaf-pacer]
notes
[7] laufafettir (m.) ‘leaf-pacer’: An otherwise unattested cpd from lauf n. ‘leaf’ and the strong verb feta ‘step, find one’s way’, hence perhaps ‘one finding its way among the leaves’ (or ‑fættir ‘one that destroys leaves’; see LP: laufafettir). The line is metrically irregular, since alliteration apparently falls on the second element of the cpd.
fóa ‘fox’
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fóa (noun f.): [fox]
notes
[8] fóa (f.) ‘fox’: This is a Germanic term for ‘fox’ (Gmc *fuhōn, Goth. fauho ‘fox’). In Old Norse the word is found only in the present stanza, but the Orkney form fúa (= ON fóa) is attested once in Anon Mhkv 18/2III. Cf. also the Modern Icelandic p. n. Fóey lit. ‘fox-island’ (ÍO: fóa, fúa).
brunnmigi ‘spring-pisser’
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brunnmigi (noun m.; °-a): [spring-pisser]
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