Þul Konunga 2^III

Hildingr, harri         ok hertogi,
mæringr, hilmir,         mildingr ok Nórr,
lofðungr, niflungr         ok landreki,
þengill, vísi,         þjóðann, konungr.

Hildingr, harri ok hertogi, mæringr, hilmir, mildingr ok Nórr, lofðungr, niflungr ok landreki, þengill, vísi, þjóðann, konungr.

Warrior, lord and army-leader, illustrious one, helmet-provider, munificent one and Nórr, descendant of Lofði, one of the Niflungar and land-ruler, chieftain, leader, sovereign, king.

Mss: A(17r), B(8r), 744ˣ(53r-v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Hildingr: so B, hildingr ok A    [2] hertogi: ‘her[…]gi’ B, ‘hertugí’ 744ˣ    [4] mildingr: ‘m[…]lldinngr’ B, mildingr 744ˣ;    Nórr: nór A, B

Editions: Skj AI, 679, Skj BI, 671, Skald I, 336; SnE 1848-87, II 469, 551.

Notes: [1] harri (m.) ‘lord’: According to AEW, harri is a loanword either from OE hearra or from MLG herre ‘lord’. Like the majority of other terms for ‘prince’ listed in this stanza, the word is used mostly in poetry (see Fritzner: harri; LP: harri). In Skm (SnE 1998, I, 101), Harri is mentioned among the names of the sons of Hálfdan gamli (see Introduction above). — [2] hertogi (m.) ‘army-leader’: The word originally meant ‘army-’ or ‘war-leader’ and is often used in this sense in poetry (cf. tyggi m. ‘chieftain’, st. 1/8 above). Owing to foreign influence, hertogi later became the Scandinavian honorific for ‘duke’ (< MLG hertoge, hertoch; see Notes to Sturl Hákkv 23/8^II and Ólhv Hryn 5/8^II).  — [3] mæringr (m.) ‘illustrious one’: A characterising noun (with the suffix -ingr) from the adj. mærr ‘illustrious, famous’. See also mildingr ‘munificent one’ in l. 4 and Þul Manna 3/7. — [3] hilmir (m.) ‘helmet-provider’: A common poetic term for ‘ruler’, which could be derived from hjálmr m. ‘helmet’ (< Proto Nordic *helmiaʀ; AEW: hilmir). It could also refer to a ruler who is a ‘helmet’ to his people, i.e. ‘protector’ (cf. OE helm ‘helm’ and helm ‘protector’, Beowulf 2008, 394). In Skm (SnE 1998, I, 101), Hilmir is a son of Hálfdan gamli (see Introduction above). See also Note to st. 3/3 below. — [4] mildingr (m.) ‘munificent one’: From the adj. mildr ‘generous, munificent’. See also mæringr ‘illustrious one’ in l. 3 above and Þul Manna 3/7. — [4] Nórr: Most likely identical with the name of the legendary king Nórr (see Nóri, Note to Þul Sækonunga 4/4), which could be a fairly late, speculative derivation from Nóregr ‘Norway’ (cf. ÍO: Nórr). As a heiti for ‘king’ in general, the word does not occur elsewhere. — [5] lofðungr (m.) ‘descendant of Lofði’: According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 103) Lofði was a son of Hálfdan gamli (see Introduction above). Lofði is probably related to the weak verb lofa ‘praise’ and the noun lof n. ‘praise’ (see Note to Þul Manna 3/3). — [5] niflungr (m.) ‘one of the Niflungar’: A legendary family (MHG Nibelungen), the sons of the Burgundian king Gjúki. The sg. form, which must be a new formation from the pl. Niflungar, is attested only in eddic poetry; cf. geir-Niflungr ‘spear-Niflungr’ in Akv 25/2 (NK 244), where it refers to Gunnarr Gjúkason. In Vǫlsunga saga (Vǫls 1965, ch. 40, 73) it is used as a pers. n., Niflungr Hǫgnason. According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 103), the Niflungar were the descendants of King Nefir, one of the sons of Hálfdan gamli (see Introduction above; cf. also Flat 1860-8, I, 25-6). As a common noun, niflungr is not attested elsewhere in skaldic poetry, but it appears frequently in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: niflungr). The provenance of the word is unsure and disputed. — [6] landreki (m.) ‘land-ruler’: This is an agent-noun from the weak verb rekja ‘straighten out’ rather than from the strong verb reka ‘drive’ (so SnE 1998, I, 220; AEW: reki; Note to st. 1/4 above). Cf. OE gerec ‘rule’. — [7] þengill (m.) ‘chieftain’: A poetic word for ‘ruler’, whose etymology is uncertain. In Skm, Þengill (or Manna-Þengill) is the name of a son of Hálfdan gamli (see Introduction above). — [7] vísi (m.) ‘leader’: An agent noun derived from the weak verb vísa ‘direct’ (cf. OHG wīso, OE wīsa ‘leader’). The later form of the word is vísir, and both forms are used only in poetry. — [8] þjóðann (m.) ‘sovereign’: Lit. ‘ruler of a nation (þjóð)’. Cf. Goth. þiudans, OE ðeoden ‘lord’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
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. Finnur Jónsson. 1926-8. Ordbog til de af samfund til udg. af gml. nord. litteratur udgivne Rímur samt til de af Dr. O. Jiriczek udgivne Bósarímur. SUGNL 51. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
7. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
8. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
9. 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.
10. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
11. Beowulf 2008 = Fulk, Robert D., Robert E. Bjork and John D. Niles, eds. 2008. Klaeber’s Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg. 4th rev. edn of Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg, ed. Fr. Klaeber. Toronto, Buffalo and London: University of Toronto Press.
12. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
13. Vǫls 1965 = Finch, R. G., ed. and trans. 1965. The Saga of the Volsungs. London: Nelson.
14. Internal references
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ 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=112> (accessed 25 April 2024)
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sækonunga heiti 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. 683.
17. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Manna heiti 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. 778.
18. Not published: do not cite ()
19. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Manna heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 774. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3192> (accessed 25 April 2024)
20. Lauren Goetting (ed.) 2009, ‘Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 662-3.
21. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarkviða 23’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 716-17.
22. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Vǫlsunga saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 790. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=10832> (accessed 25 April 2024)