Þul Vargs 1^III

Vargr, ulfr, Geri,         vitnir ok hninnir, grádýri,
Hati, Hróðvitnir         ok heiðingi,
Freki ok viðnir,         Fenrir, hlébarðr,
Goti, gildr, glammi,         gylðir, ímarr,
ímr ok egðir         ok skolkinni.

Vargr, ulfr, Geri, vitnir ok hninnir, grádýri, Hati, Hróðvitnir ok heiðingi, Freki ok viðnir, Fenrir, hlébarðr, Goti, gildr, glammi, gylðir, ímarr, ímr ok egðir ok skolkinni.

Wolf, he-wolf, Geri, watcher and hninnir, grey-beast, Hati, Hróðvitnir and heath-dweller, Freki and forest-dweller, Fenrir, hlébarðr, Goti, worthy one, noisy one, howler, combatant, dusky one and edged one and dark-cheeked one.

Mss: R(44r), Tˣ(46r), C(13v), A(20r), B(9v), 744ˣ(81v-82r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Vargr: ‘[…]argr’ C, Ylgr A, ‘[…]lfr’ B, Ulfr 744ˣ;    ulfr: vargr A, B;    Geri: vitnir A, B    [2] vitnir ok hninnir grádýri: so C, vitnir ok hninnir ok grádýri R, vitnir grádýri Tˣ, ilmr skǫll geri A, ‘[…]oll geri’ B, ‘j́l … skoll geri’ 744ˣ    [3] Hati: so all others, ‘h[…]’ R;    ‑vitnir: ‘‑[…]tnir’ B, ‘‑uitnir’ 744ˣ    [4] ok: om. Tˣ;    heiðingi: ‘heidin[…]’ B, ‘heidíngi’ 744ˣ    [5] Freki ok: om. Tˣ, freki kinni A, ‘[…]kí kínnir’ B, ‘freki kinnir’ 744ˣ;    viðnir: vitnir C, ‘v[…]nir’ B, ‘vidnir’ 744ˣ    [6] Fenrir: ‘[…]enrir’ B, fenrir 744ˣ    [7] gildr: gildir A, ‘gylld[…]’ B, ‘gýlldir’ 744ˣ;    glammi: so C, A, glami R, Tˣ, ‘[…]la[…]’ B, ‘glanne’ 744ˣ    [8] gylðir: ‘[…]’ B, ‘g̣ỵ́ldir’ 744ˣ    [9] ímr: ‘rimr’ C, ‘jm[…]’ B, ‘j́mr’ 744ˣ;    ok: om. all    [10] ok: om. Tˣ;    skol‑: so A, skǫll‑ R, Tˣ, C, ‘skoll‑’ B;    ‑kinni: ‘‑kini’ all

Editions: Skj AI, 677, Skj BI, 670, Skald I, 335; SnE 1848-87, I, 591, II, 484, 568, 627, SnE 1931, 212, SnE 1998, I, 132.   

Notes: [All]: Most of the English translations follow Faulkes (1987, 164). — [1] vargr, ulfr, Geri ‘wolf, he-wolf, Geri’: In mss A and B this line is given as Ylgr, vargr, vitnir (A) and Ulfr, vargr, vitnir (B) respectively. The heiti ylgr ‘she-wolf’ (so A) does not belong in this stanza, however, because m. and f. heiti in this þula are listed separately (see ylgr in st. 2/2 and Introduction above). — [1] Geri: Lit. ‘greedy one’. One of Óðinn’s wolves (Grí 19/1; Gylf, SnE 2005, 32). Geri is a poetic term for ‘wolf’ in general. The name is also recorded in Þul Hrafns 1/8 but never occurs elsewhere as a heiti for ‘raven’. — [2] vitnir ok hninnir, grádýri ‘watcher and hninnir, grey-beast’: So C. In both R and C the line is hypermetrical and has an extra heiti. In Tˣ (adopted in Skj B and Skald) the obscure word hninnir is omitted, while mss A and B give the entire line as ilmr, skǫll, geri (A), where ilmr must be a corrupt form of ímr ‘dusky one’ (l. 9 below). Skǫll f., lit. ‘noise’, is the name of a mythical wolf, one of the two wolves that pursue the Sun and the Moon (the other is Hati, l. 3). Because skǫll is f., the name most likely does not belong in this stanza. — [2] vitnir (m.) ‘watcher’: This heiti could also be translated as ‘aware one, observant, keen-scented one’ (SnE 1998, II, 430), from a Germanic weak verb *witan ‘observe, watch’ (cf. Goth. *witan, OE bewitian ‘observe, watch; AEW: vita 4). See also ‑vitnir in Hróðvitnir (l. 3). This wolf-heiti is frequently used in skaldic verse. Along with vargr ‘wolf’ and ulfr ‘he-wolf’, vitnir is also a sword-heiti (Þul Sverða 6/7). — [2] grádýri (m.) ‘grey-beast’: An otherwise unattested cpd from the adj. grár ‘grey’ and dýr n. ‘animal, beast’. — [3] Hati: Lit. ‘hater’. In Old Norse myth, Hati Hróðvitnisson is the wolf that is trying to catch the Moon (Grí 39/4-6; Gylf, SnE 2005, 14). This wolf-name is not used in skaldic poetry. — [3] Hróðvitnir: A mythical wolf and father of Hati (see the previous heiti; cf. also Hróðrsvitnir in Lok 39/2, where it may be another name for Fenrir). This name most likely translates as ‘famous (or praised) wolf’, from hróðr m. ‘fame, glory’ and vitnir ‘wolf’ (see Note to l. 2 above). It is never used as a heiti for ‘wolf’ in general. — [5] Freki: Lit. ‘greedy one’; one of Óðinn’s wolves in Old Norse myth (see Geri, l. 1 above; Grí 19/1; Gylf, SnE 2005, 32). In skaldic poetry the name is used as a heiti for ‘wolf’. Freki is also listed as heiti for ‘fire’ and ‘ship’ (Þul Elds 3/1, Þul Skipa 3/1). In mss A and B this name is followed by kinni (‘kínnir’ B); cf. the eagle-heiti kinnarr ‘one with distinctive cheeks’ (see Þul Ara l. 5 and Note). See also Introduction above. — [5] viðnir (m.) ‘forest-dweller’: This heiti is also found in Þul Orma (see Note to st. 4/3) and Þul Hauks 2/5, but it does not occur elsewhere. Ms. C has the variant vitnir (see l. 2). — [6] Fenrir: The mythical monster wolf (e.g. Vsp 40/4), son of Loki and the giantess Angrboða, otherwise called Fenrisúlfr (see also Þul Jǫtna II 3/3). The etymology of Fenrir is obscure. For Fenrir, see also Notes to Þjóð Yt 7/5-6^I, Eyv Hák 20/3^I, Eyv Lv 6/1^I and Anon Eirm 7/4^I. In skaldic poetry, this mythical name appears as a heiti for ‘wolf’ in general. — [6] hlébarðr (m.): Hlébarðr is never used as a heiti for ‘wolf’, and the cpd is also given in the þulur as a heiti for ‘bear’ (Þul Bjarnar 1/6; for a discussion of this word, see Note there). — [7] Goti: The name of Gunnarr Gjúkason’s horse and hence a poetic term for ‘horse’ in general (see Þul Hesta 1/7). As a wolf-name Goti is not attested elsewhere. Most likely it is a half-kenning, since it occurs as a base-word in kennings for ‘wolf’ of the type ‘horse of a giantess’ (e.g. goti flagðs ‘horse of the troll-woman’, Egill Hfl 10/5^V (Eg 43)). — [7] gildr (m.) ‘worthy one’: A substantivised adj. (gildr ‘worthy’) and not attested elsewhere as a heiti for ‘wolf’. According to LP: 1. gildr, the heiti could be a variant or a corrupt form of gylðir (see l. 8); cf. the variants gildir (A) and ‘gýlldir’ (B), although those variants produce a hypermetrical line. — [8] gylðir (m.) ‘howler’: This heiti is perhaps related to the weak verbs gaula, góla ‘howl, cry’ (Noreen 1912a, 12), although Olsen (1942b, 8) connects it with gol n. ‘breeze’ referring to the breath of the animal. Gylðir is attested as a heiti for ‘wolf’ in skaldic poetry (LP: gylðir). — [8] ímarr (m.) ‘combatant’: The name is a hap. leg., which either is derived from the noun íma f. ‘battle’ with suffixed ‑herr m. ‘host, troops’ (AEW: ímarr) or means ‘dusky one’ (see the next heiti). — [9] ímr ok egðir ‘dusky one and edged one’: Although the conjunction ok ‘and’ is absent in all mss, it has been supplied in earlier eds (Skj B; Skald) to avoid a hypometrical line. — [9] ímr (m.) ‘dusky one’: The heiti ímr (from ím n. ‘dust, ashes, embers’) is also given in Þul Jǫtna II 1/4. — [9] egðir (m.) ‘edged one’: This heiti, which refers to a wolf’s sharp teeth, does not occur elsewhere in poetry, but egðir is also listed among the eagle-heiti (see SnE 1998, I, 92 and Note to Þul Ara l. 5). — [10] skolkinni (m.) ‘dark-cheeked one’: A hap. leg. The meaning of skol- is most likely ‘dark’ (AEW: skólkinni; Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon 1950, 123); cf. the adjectives skolbeinn ‘brown-legged’ and skolbrúnn ‘swarthy’. The second element, ‑kinni, is perhaps derived from kinn n. ‘cheek’ (see Notes to Freki, l. 5 above and Þul Ara l. 5). The first element is (normalised) skǫll- in R, Tˣ, C and it is also possible that skolkinni is not one, but two names, i.e. Skoll, or Skǫll, a mythical wolf (see Note to l. 2) and kinni (see Note to l. 5). The lack of alliteration in l. 10 suggests that this heiti was originally preceded by some other wolf-name with an initial vowel.

References

1. Bibliography
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