Þul Trollkvenna 1III
Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Trollkvenna 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. 724.
Skal ‘shall’
(not checked:)
skulu (verb): shall, should, must
[1] Skal ek trollkvenna: ‘[…]kal […]k trollkuenn[…]’ B, ‘Skal ek troll kuenna’ 744ˣ
ek ‘I’
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
[1] Skal ek trollkvenna: ‘[…]kal […]k trollkuenn[…]’ B, ‘Skal ek troll kuenna’ 744ˣ
trollkvenna ‘of troll-women’
(not checked:)
trollkvenna (noun f.): [troll-women]
[1] Skal ek trollkvenna: ‘[…]kal […]k trollkuenn[…]’ B, ‘Skal ek troll kuenna’ 744ˣ
telja ‘enumerate’
(not checked:)
telja (verb): tell, count
[2] telja heiti: inna heiti ok framtelja Tˣ, ‘telía hei[…]’ B, ‘telía heítí’ 744ˣ
notes
[2] telja heiti ‘enumerate the names’: Ms. Tˣ has inna heiti ok framtelja ‘tell and enumerate the names’, which is unmetrical.
heiti ‘the names’
(not checked:)
heiti (noun n.): name, promise
[2] telja heiti: inna heiti ok framtelja Tˣ, ‘telía hei[…]’ B, ‘telía heítí’ 744ˣ
notes
[2] telja heiti ‘enumerate the names’: Ms. Tˣ has inna heiti ok framtelja ‘tell and enumerate the names’, which is unmetrical.
Gríðr ‘Gríðr’
(not checked:)
Gríðr (noun f.; °dat./acc. -i): [Gríðr, Gríður]
[3] Gríðr: ‘Gryðr’ Tˣ, ‘g[…]r’ B, ‘griðr’ 744ˣ
notes
[3] Gríðr: Lit. ‘eager one’ (cf. gríð f. ‘frantic eagerness’). Gríðr was the mother of Óðinn’s son Víðarr and the friend of Þórr. She lent the latter a girdle of strength and her staff Gríðarvǫlr when he was on his way to the giant Geirrøðr (Skm, SnE 1998, I, 24-5). A troll-woman Gríðr is also known from Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra (FSN III, 653-6, 658-9) and she appears in Allra flagða þula ‘The þula of all trolls’ in Vilhjálms saga sjóðs (Loth 1962-5, IV, 67). This is the only name in this stanza that is frequently used in poetry.
notes
[3] Gnissa: A hap. leg. Finnur Jónsson (1934-5, 306) connects the name with hnissa f. ‘ill flavour’, but cf. ModNorw. gnisse ‘rub, squeak, creak’ and ModSwed. dialectal gnissa ‘puff, shout’. According to de Vries (AEW: Gnissa), the name is most likely related to the weak verb gniða ‘rub’, hence perhaps ‘one who rubs’. The C variant, Grísla, is also a hap. leg. (for a possible meaning of that word, cf. ON gríss m. ‘pig’ and ModIcel. gríslingr ‘piglet’).
Grýla ‘Grýla’
(not checked:)
grýla (noun f.; °-u; -ur): grýla
[4] Grýla: grýla ok C, ‘[…]ry[…]a’ B, grýla 744ˣ
notes
[4] Grýla: As the name of a troll-woman, the word must be the same as grýla, a vixen that, according to popular belief, steals children (see Þul Grýlu l. 4 and Note there).
notes
[4] Brýja: A hap. leg. Perhaps derived from brý n. (?) ‘troll’, a word mentioned in ms. A(22r) (SnE 1848-87, II, 494). The meaning of both words is unclear. According to ÍO: brýja, they are probably related to ModIcel. brýja ‘rancid suet’; hence Brýja may be a scornful name meaning ‘greasy one’ or ‘stinking one’. The B variant reading brýla (cf. ModIcel. brýla ‘stink, fog’) is most likely connected with brýja, but brýla is not attested until C17th (ÍO: brýla).
Glumra ‘Glumra’
(not checked:)
1. glumra (noun f.): glumra
notes
[5] Glumra: Lit. ‘rattling one’ (cf. the weak verb glumra ‘rattle’). The name is also found as the second element of Járnglumra (st. 4/2), but does not occur elsewhere.
Geitla ‘Geitla’
(not checked:)
Geitla (noun f.): Geitla
notes
[5] Geitla: Cf. Geitir among the names of giants and sea-kings (Þul Sækonunga 1/7; Þul Jǫtna I 3/3). The name probably means ‘female goatherd’ or ‘little goat’ (cf. names of troll-women such as Hyndla lit. ‘small dog’ and Grísla; see Note to l. 3 above). It is not otherwise attested in skaldic poetry, but it appears once in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: Geitla).
Gríma ‘Gríma’
(not checked:)
gríma (noun f.; °-u): night, darkness; mask
notes
[6] Gríma: Lit. ‘masked one’. As the name of a troll-woman, Gríma is mentioned only here and in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: gríma), but there are various female characters called Gríma in the fornaldarsögur. See also the giant-names Grímr and Grímnir (Þul Jǫtna I 1/6). In the þulur, gríma is also recorded as heiti for ‘helmet’ and ‘night’ (Þul Hjálms 2/3 and Þul Dœgra l. 5).
notes
[6] Bakrauf: This name is not attested elsewhere. Possibly ‘one with a torn back’, from rauf f. ‘rift, hole’ (cf. the weak verb raufa ‘break up, open’) (Finnur Jónsson 1934-5, 304-5). Motz (1981, 503) translates it as ‘anus’.
notes
[7] Guma: This troll-woman is not mentioned elsewhere, and the meaning of the heiti is obscure. Guma could be a weak f. form of gumi ‘man’ (so Motz 1981, 505); cf. ModSwed. gumma ‘old woman’ (see Hellquist 1970, I, 312). Finnur Jónsson (1934-5, 306) connects it with the weak verb guma ‘make a great fuss about sth., exaggerate’ (cf. ModIcel. gum n. ‘bragging’; ÍO: Guma). According to that interpretation, Guma would mean ‘braggart’, but a connection with the giant-name Gymir (see Note to Þul Jǫtna I 1/8) cannot be excluded. The Tˣ variant Ginna is most likely related to the weak verb ginna ‘dupe, fool sby’, ‘intoxicate’.
Gestilja ‘Gestilja’
(not checked:)
Gestilja (noun f.): Gestilja
[7] Gestilja: ‘g[…]stilia’ B, ‘gestilía’ 744ˣ
notes
[7] Gestilja: This name is otherwise attested only once, in EGils Selv 5/6IV, where it means ‘monster’ and may be a common noun (LP: Gestilja). This troll-woman could be the female counterpart of the sea-king Gestill (from gestr m. ‘guest’; Þul Sea-kings l. 2 and Þul Sækonunga 1/6) (so Motz 1981, 505). Alternatively, Finnur Jónsson (1934-5, 306) suggests that -ilja may be a derivative from il f. ‘sole of the foot’, but the meaning of the word remains obscure.
Grottintanna ‘Grottintanna’
(not checked:)
Grottintanna (noun f.): Grottintanna
[8] Grottintanna: ‘gro[…]n[…]a’ B, grottintanna 744ˣ
notes
[8] Grottintanna: A hap. leg. The m. noun grottintanni is a pejorative man’s name in the rímur (see ÍO: Grottintanna). The name may mean ‘one with rotten teeth’ (cf. ModIcel. grotna niðr ‘rot away’; so Finnur Jónsson 1934-5, 304). Motz (1981, 502) connects the first element of the cpd with the mythical mill Grotti. For grottintanna ‘gap-toothed’, another suggested meaning, see AEW: Grottintanna.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Stanza/chapter/text segment
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
Information tab
- text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
- sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
- readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
- editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
- notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant
Interactive tab
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
Full text tab
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
Chapter/text segment
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.