Þul Óðins 1^III

Nú ‘Now’

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nú (adv.): now

[1] Nú: ‘[…]v’ B, Nú 744ˣ

skal ‘I shall’

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skulu (verb): shall, should, must

yppa ‘announce’

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yppa (verb): extol, lift up

Óðins ‘Óðinn’s’

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Óðinn (noun m.): Óðinn

[2] Óðins nǫfnum: ‘no᷎f[…]ens’ B, ‘no᷎fnum óðens’ 744ˣ

nǫfnum ‘names’

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nafni (noun m.; °-a; -ar): namesake

[2] Óðins nǫfnum: ‘no᷎f[…]ens’ B, ‘no᷎fnum óðens’ 744ˣ

Atríðr ‘Atríðr’

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Atríðr (noun m.)

[3] Atríðr: ‘[…]tr[…]dr’ B, ‘atridr’ 744ˣ

notes

[3] Atríðr: Lit. ‘one who rides at’, i.e. ‘one who rides to battle, attacker’ (cf. atreið f. ‘riding at, attack’ used as a military term, see CVC: at-reið; Falk 1924, 3). This is an agent noun from the strong verb ríða ‘ride’ with the adv. at ‘at’ as its first element. The name is also known from Grí 48/4 and Gylf (SnE 2005, 22), but it is omitted in LaufE. It is perhaps a variant of Atriði, a name for Óðinn or Freyr (see Anon Þorgþ I 3/3). For another possible explanation see Note to Fráríðr (st. 2/3).

Auðun ‘Auðun’

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Auðun (noun m.): Auðun

notes

[3] Auðun: Earlier Auðunn (see AEW: Auðun). An old pers. n. which is not mentioned as an Óðinn-heiti in other poetic sources, aside from a possible allusion to it in an ofljóst construction in Grett Lv 13/3^V (Gr 26); see Note there. A possible explanation for why this name is listed among Óðins nǫfn is found in a passage from Ynglinga saga (ch. 7, ÍF 26, 20): Eptir Óðins nafni var kallaðr Auðun ‘Auðun is derived from the name of Óðinn’. However, this is a misinterpretation based on folk etymology, because Auðun is a derivative from auðr m. ‘riches’ and vinr m. ‘friend’ (ÍO: Auðun(n)). Falk (1924, 3-4) believed that the connection between the two names was established rather early and that Auðun as an Óðinn-name might be traced back to a historical person, Audoin (= Ēadwine in the Old English Widsith l. 74), king of the Langobards (C6th), who was said to be of Gautr’s kin (cf. Gautr, l. 6 below).

ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

Aldafǫðr ‘Aldafǫðr’

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aldafǫðr (noun m.): [mankind father]

[4] Aldafǫðr: ‘[…]ldafedr’ B, ‘allda fedr’ 744ˣ

notes

[4] Aldafǫðr: The name is generally explained as ‘father of men’ or ‘father of mankind’ (Falk 1924, 3). For the first part of the cpd, cf. ǫld and aldir ‘mankind’; as to the second part -fǫðr, it is stated in Gylf (SnE 2005, 21) that this element is also attested in a number of other Óðinn-heiti listed below and equals faðir ‘father’. However, the interpretation of -fǫðr as a contracted form of faðir is most likely to be the result of a later confusion influenced by Christianity. Kuhn (1937, 56-7) argues that the element -fǫðr (< *faðr) used in this and other cpd names for Óðinn is cognate with Goth. ‑faþs, Gk πόσις ‘lord’. The name Aldafǫðr is also known from Vafþr 4/5, 53/2 and Bragi Þórr 1/2. See also Note to Alfǫðr (st. 2/3).

Gizurr ‘Gizurr’

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Gizurr (noun m.): Gizurr

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[5] Gizurr: A pers. n. of uncertain origin, perhaps related to a weak verb *gitsa, ODan. gitse ‘guess’, cf. OIcel. geta (AEW: Gizurr). See also Sanngetall (st. 7/2). It has been suggested (Falk 1924, 13-14) that this Óðinn-heiti could have been derived from the story of Gizurr Gertingaliði or Grýtingaliði in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (Heiðr, FSN I, 495; see also NK 305, 308-10), an emanation of Óðinn, or Óðinn himself, who provoked war between Angantýr, king of the Goths, and his half-brother Hlǫðr, king of the Huns. A reverse relationship is probably more likely, namely, that the name had Odinic associations and so could be applied to Odinic figures in heroic legends and fornaldarsögur. It is clear from the contexts in which it is used that this name was associated with the conception of Óðinn as the promoter of strife (cf. Turville-Petre 1964, 51). In Anon Mhkv 22/2 Óðinn is called Gizurr and described as one who incites princes against each other, and Sturla Þórðarson (Sturl Lv 4/4, 7^IV) replaced the name of the treacherous Gizurr jarl Þorvaldsson with Óðinn and Gautr (see the latter name in l. 6 below).

Kjalarr ‘Kjalarr’

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Kjalarr (noun m.): Kjalarr

notes

[5] Kjalarr: The name is of obscure origin (cf. ÍO: Kjalar(r)). In Grí 49/4-5 (NK 67) it is associated with kjálki m. ‘sledge’ and interpreted as ‘sledge-puller’ (enn þá Kialar, | er ek kiálca dró ‘and then [they called me] Kjalarr when I pulled the sledge’). The account of the construction of Ormr inn langi ‘The Long Serpent’, the famous ship of King Óláfr Tryggvason (Flat 1860-8, I, 433-4), shows that, in folk etymology, Kjalarr was alternatively derived from kjǫlr m. ‘keel’ (on the connection between kjálki and kjǫlr, see AEW: kjalki). According to that story, a stranger named Forni (= Óðinn) was the one who found a tree-trunk of desired length for a keel. Falk (1924, 22) assumes that this episode could have been motivated by the Óðinn-name Kjalarr. However, the name is more likely to have been connected etymologically to a weak verb *kjalask ‘take care of’ (cf. ModIcel. kjalast). According to de Vries (AEW: Kjalarr), the original meaning of *kjala was ‘feed’; cf. ON kilja f. ‘nutrition’. Thus Kjalarr could be the one who feeds the beasts of prey (so Falk 1924, 22). Other than in Grí and in the present stanza, the name appears in Gylf (SnE 2005, 22) and in skaldic poetry (see ÞSjár Frag 3/3).

Gautr ‘Gautr’

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2. Gautr (noun m.): Gautr, Óðinn

[6] Gautr Viðrímnir: ‘g[…]mím[…]’ B, ‘gautr vidrmimir’ 744ˣ

notes

[6] Gautr: One of the most frequently used Óðinn-names, which is also mentioned in Grí 54/6 and in the list in Gylf. It was perhaps originally the name of the eponymous father of the Gautar (people of Gautland, modern Västergötland), and hence of the Goths who, according to Jordanes, came to the Continent from Scandinavia. Snorri, however, argues that the legendary king Goti = Gautr (whom Gautland and Gotland is named after) received his name from one of Óðinn’s names (Skm, SnE 1998, I, 105). According to Falk (1924, 11-12), the Óðinn-name Gautr must be of Germanic origin because some Germanic tribes trace their ruling dynasties back to Gautr, their divine ancestor. In Anglo-Saxon sources, for example, Woden (ON Óðinn) is said to descend from the OE Gēat, whose name corresponds to ON Gautr (Turville-Petre 1964, 70).

Viðrímnir ‘Viðrímnir’

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Víðrímnir (noun m.)

[6] Gautr Viðrímnir: ‘g[…]mím[…]’ B, ‘gautr vidrmimir’ 744ˣ

notes

[6] Viðrímnir: An obscure cpd not attested elsewhere. This reading is attested only in ms. A. In B the second part is ‑mímir (see Note to Þul Jǫtna I 1/3) and the first element is now illegible, while 744ˣ has ‘vidrmimir’ (so also the LaufE mss). According to Falk (1924, 33), the correct form of the name is Við(h)rímnir, perhaps a variant of the eagle-heiti andhrímnir ‘counter-screamer’ (Þul Ara l. 2). He interprets both names as ‘counter-screamer’, from and- = við- ‘opposite, against, counter’, and hrímnir m. from the m. noun hreimr ‘scream, cry’ (cf. the myth of the mead of poetry where Óðinn appears in an eagle’s shape, Skm, SnE 1998, I, 4-5). Alternatively, the first element may be connected with viðr m. ‘wood, tree’ (see ÍO: Viðrímnir).

Gǫllorr ‘Gǫllorr’

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Gǫllorr (noun m.)

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[7] Gǫllorr: A hap. leg., lit. ‘clanging one’, from the noun gǫll f. ‘shriek, clang’. Gǫll means ‘battle’ as well, and it is also the name of a valkyrie. Hence Gǫllorr is an Óðinn-heiti connected with the names of valkyries (see Gǫll in Þul Valkyrja 1/5; cf. Falk 1924, 42-3). See also the variant forms of this name, Gǫllnir in st. 3/7 and Gǫllungr in st. 5/5 below. Neither Gǫllorr nor Gǫllungr is attested either in Grí or in other sources.

Grímnir ‘Grímnir’

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Grímnir (noun m.): Grimnir

[7] Grímnir: ‘[…]nnir’ B, ‘ginnir’ 744ˣ

notes

[7] Grímnir: This heiti means ‘masked one’ (from gríma f. ‘mask’). This is also Óðinn’s name in Grí 47/6, 49/1 (see also the prose introduction, NK 57). The name hints at the god’s many travels in disguise and it is found in other poetic sources as well. Grímnir is also the name of a giant (Þul Jǫtna I 1/6) and a heiti for ‘goat’ (Þul Hafrs 1/1). Cf. the Óðinn-name Grímr (st. 3/1).

Ginnarr ‘Ginnarr’

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ginnarr (noun m.): [deceiver]

[8] Ginnarr: gunnar B

notes

[8] Ginnarr: Lit. ‘deceiver, impostor’ (related to the weak verb ginna ‘deceive, fool, entice’. This name probably refers to Óðinn as the great seiðmaðr ‘sorcerer, performer of spells’ (Falk 1924, 13). Ginnarr is also recorded as the name of a dwarf (Þul Dverga 4/5) and as a heiti for ‘hawk’ (Þul Hauks 1/5), but as a god’s heiti it occurs only in ms. A of the present þula (the LaufE mss have Ginar). The name Ginnungr (either a name for Óðinn or a giant) is recorded in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: Ginnungr), and that name may well be a variant of Ginnarr. The B variant Gunnar (the pers. n. Gunnarr or gen. sg. of gunnr f. ‘battle’ or Gunnr, a valkyrie) appears to be a lectio facilior.

Hnikuðr ‘Hnikuðr’

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Hnikuðr (noun m.)

notes

[8] Hnikuðr: Perhaps ‘one who incites to battle’ (Turville-Petre 1964, 51), an agent noun from the weak verb hnika ‘push, upset the balance’ (in Old Norse attested only in poetry; see Note to Arn Hryn 2/2^II). Óðinn is then described as a war-god, but the name might hint at his habit of not participating in battles himself but rather inciting others to fight (Falk 1924, 18). See also the variant Hnikarr (st. 2/6 and Note there); both names appear in Grí 47/3, 48/2 and in the lists of Óðinn-names in Gylf (SnE, 2005, 8, 21-2). According to Gylf (SnE 2005, 8), Nikuz eða Hnikuðr ‘Nikuz or Hnikuðr’ as well as Nikarr eða Hnikarr ‘Nikarr or Hnikarr’ are among the twelve names that the highest god (i.e. Óðinn) had í Ásgarði inum forna ‘in the old Ásgarðr’.