Þul Trollkvenna 4^III

Ǫflugbarða         ok Járnglumra,
Ímgerðr, Áma         ok Járnviðja,
Margerðr, Atla,         Eisurfála,
Leikn, Munnharpa         ok Myrkriða.

Ǫflugbarða ok Járnglumra, Ímgerðr, Áma ok Járnviðja, Margerðr, Atla, Eisurfála, Leikn, Munnharpa ok Myrkriða.

Ǫflugbarða and Járnglumra, Ímgerðr, Áma and Járnviðja, Margerðr, Atla, Eisurfála, Leikn, Munnharpa and Myrkriða.

Mss: R(42r), Tˣ(44r), C(11v), A(17v), B(8r), 744ˣ(59r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Ǫflugbarða: ‘A[…]lugbarda’ B, ‘Auflugbarda’ 744ˣ    [2] ok: om. Tˣ;    Járnglumra: ‘jarnglumr[…]’ B, jarnglumra 744ˣ    [3] Ímgerðr: so Tˣ, A, 744ˣ, ungerðr R, unngerðr C, ‘[…]nger[…]’ B;    Áma: amma C    [4] ok: om. Tˣ    [5] Margerðr Atla: ‘[…]argerdr […]tl[…]’ B, ‘margerdr atla’ 744ˣ    [7] Leikn: ‘le[…]n’ B, ‘leírn’ 744ˣ    [8] ok: om. Tˣ;    Myrkriða: so A, B, munnriða R, Tˣ, munnrifa C

Editions: Skj AI, 656, Skj BI, 659-60, Skald I, 324; SnE 1848-87, I, 552, II, 471-2, 555, 615-16, SnE 1931, 196, SnE 1998, I, 112.

Notes: [1] Ǫflugbarða: According to Motz (1981, 500), this name means ‘strong-axe’ (from the adj. ǫflugr ‘strong, powerful’ and barða f. ‘axe’). Alternatively, it can be interpreted as ‘mightily bearded one’, if ‑barð- is taken in the sense barð n. ‘beard’. As the name of a troll-woman, the heiti does not occur in other sources, but cf. the m. name Ǫflugbarði in Bragi Þórr 3/3 (see Note there). — [2] Járnglumra: Lit. ‘iron-rattling one’. This troll-woman is not known from other sources, but cf. Glumra in st. 1/5 above and other cpd names with the first element Járn- ‘iron-’ in this list (see st. 3/3 and l. 4 below). — [3] Ímgerðr: Lit. ‘dark Gerðr’. So Tˣ, A, 744ˣ. The name does not occur elsewhere, but cf. Ámgerðr and Íma (st. 3/4, 6), as well as the next heiti, Áma. The R, C variants (un(n)gerðr) must have been caused by scribal corruption. — [3] Áma: Lit. ‘dark one’. Cf. the m. giant-name Ámr (Þul Jǫtna I 4/8). See also Ámgerðr (st. 3/6) and the previous heiti Ímgerðr. As is the case with other names listed in the present þula (cf. sts 1/7, 3/6 above), this heiti occurs only in EGils Selv (here Selv 15/7^IV). Ms. C has amma f. ‘grandmother’, which must be a lectio facilior. — [4] Járnviðja: Lit. ‘one from Járnviðr’. This is a name for Skaði in Eyv Hál 2/4^I. In Vsp 40/1-4 (NK 9) we are told that Austr sat in aldna | í Iárnviði | oc fœddi þar | Fenris kindir ‘In the east the old one sat in Járnviðr and raised the offspring of Fenrir there’. Here in aldna ‘the old one’ does not refer to Skaði, however, but to the giantess Angrboða. In a passage in Gylf (SnE 2005, 14), based on this eddic stanza, it is told that troll-women called Járnviðjur lived in the forest Járnviðr ‘Ironwood’ and gave birth to giants in the shape of wolves. — [5] Margerðr: This troll-woman name is otherwise known only from Hjálmþés saga (ch. 12, FSN III, 482, 484-5). Cf. other names with ‑gerðr as the second element (see sts 3/1, 6, 4/3). The first element is possibly either from marr m. ‘sea’ or from marr m. ‘horse’ (Finnur Jónsson 1934-5, 307), but cf. also mara f. ‘nightmare’ (see Motz 1981, 504). — [5] Atla: Lit. ‘fierce’. This is the f. form of the m. name Atli (see Þul Sækonunga 1/1), and the name of one of Heimdallr’s mothers in Hyndl 37/7. See Note to st. 3/3. — [6] Eisurfála: A hap. leg., perhaps meaning ‘storm-troll-woman’. For the second element, see fála (st. 3/2). The first element may be connected with the weak verb eisa ‘rush’ (Finnur Jónsson 1934-5, 305; cf. the poetic phrase ganga eisandi ‘go dashing through the waves’). Motz (1981, 505) derives it from eisa f. ‘glowing embers, fire’. — [7] Leikn: According to Vetrl Lv 1/1, this troll-woman was killed by Þórr. The name is perhaps connected with the weak verb leika ‘delude’ or from leika f. ‘playmate’ (Motz 1981, 504). This name is used in skaldic kennings (LP: Leikn). — [7] Munnharpa: Lit. ‘one whose mouth is contracted from cold’ (cf. ModIcel. herpa ‘mouth-cramp, contraction of the lips from cold’ and harpa ‘shell’; CVC: munn-harpa). This troll-woman is not known from other sources. — [8] Myrkriða: So A, B. Lit. ‘dark-rider’, a troll-woman who rides through the air in the dark (cf. also kveldriða f. ‘evening-rider’). The word is attested in the pl. form in Hárb 20/2 (NK 81; myrcriðor). Mss R, Tˣ, C have Munn- ‘Mouth-’ which must have been caused by a confusion with the first element in the preceding name (see Finnur Jónsson 1934-5, 304).

References

1. Bibliography
2. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
7. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
8. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
9. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Finnur Jónsson. 1934-5. ‘Þulur: Søkonge- og jættenavneremserne’. APS 9, 289-308.
12. Motz, Lotte. 1981. ‘Giantesses and Their Names’. FS 15, 495-511.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ 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=113> (accessed 27 April 2024)
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sækonunga 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. 678.
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jǫtna heiti I 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. 713.
17. Not published: do not cite (EGils Selv^IV)
18. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Þórr’s fishing 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 49.
19. Not published: do not cite (EGils Selv 15^IV)
20. Not published: do not cite ()
21. Not published: do not cite ()
22. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 2’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 199.
23. Not published: do not cite ()
24. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2017, ‘Vetrliði Sumarliðason, Lausavísa 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. 425.