Þul Viðar 1III
Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Viðar 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. 881.
Viðr ‘Tree’
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1. viðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -u/-i): wood, tree
[1] Viðr: ‘[…]idr’ B, Viðr 744ˣ
tág ‘root fibre’
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tág (noun f.; °; tǽgr/tágar/tágir): °sugerod, rodtrevl; (kød)trevl, fiber
notes
[1] tág (f.) ‘root fibre’: Cf. ModIcel. tág, ModNorw. tåg ‘root fibre, slender root’.
víðir ‘willow’
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víðir (noun m.): °pil, piletræ
notes
[2] víðir (m.) ‘willow’: In Old Norse, the word appears in place names from the time of the settlement of Iceland, e.g. in Vatnsdœla saga (ch. 14, ÍF 8, 39): [Þá mælti Ingimundr: “Sjá dalr er mjǫk víði vaxinn;] kǫllum hann Víðidal” ‘[Then Ingimundr said: “That valley is much overgrown with willows;] we’ll call it Víðidalr (‘Willow-dale’)”’. In Iceland, víðir is willow-scrub, dwarf-willow (Salix repens), used for thatching and fodder (CVC: víðir; cf. ModNorw. vier ‘willow’).
selja ‘sallow’
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1. selja (noun f.; °-u): willow
notes
[2] selja (f.) ‘sallow’: In Old Norse, the word occurs mostly in poetry (see also Note to st. 2/2 below). Cf. ModNorw. selje ‘goat willow, pussy willow’ (Salix caprea).
notes
[3] pors (m.) ‘sweet gale’: Myrica gale, also known as bog myrtle. This plant was earlier used for beer brewing.
mǫrk ‘forest’
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2. mǫrk (noun f.; °merkr; merkr): forest
ǫlviðr ‘alder’
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ǫlviðr (noun m.)
plóma ‘plum-tree’
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1. plóma (noun f.; °-u; -ur): plum-tree
notes
[4] plóma (f.) ‘plum-tree’: This tree-name occurs as the base-word of a woman-kenning in Anon Mey 46/4VII.
spíra ‘sapling’
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spíra (noun f.; °-u; -ur): [sapling]
bjǫrk ‘birch’
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bjǫrk (noun f.): birch
viðvindill ‘honeysuckle’
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viðvindill (noun m.)
notes
[6] beinn (m.) ‘holly’: A hap. leg. The heiti is either a variant of beinviðr ‘holly’ (see l. 8 below and ÍO: beinn 1) or derived from the adj. beinn ‘straight’ (see AEW: beinn 1). The B variant ‘basinn’ is not attested elsewhere (Finnur Jónsson 1917, 190), but cf. New Norw. bas, base ‘bushes, underbrush’ (< Gmc *basīna-; see ÍO: basinn). The LaufE mss have baun ‘bean’, which appears to be a lectio facilior but could indicate that the A variant is corrupt as well.
fjallhrapi ‘dwarf birch’
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fjallhrapi (noun m.)
notes
[6] fjallhrapi (m.) ‘dwarf birch’: Betula nana. The first element of this cpd is fjall- ‘mountain’ and the second is derived from Gmc. *hrep- ‘bend, catch’. The Modern Icelandic form (from C18th) is fjalldrapi (ÍO: fjalldrapi; so also RE 1665).
búss ‘box-tree’
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búss (noun m.): box-tree
notes
[7] búss (m.) ‘box-tree’: This heiti could be a loan-word from MLG buss-(bōm) < Lat. buxus ‘box-tree’ (AEW: búss 1). In Old Norse, the word occurs only in skaldic poetry.
hlynr ‘maple’
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hlynr (noun m.; °-s): maple
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
bók ‘beech’
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2. bók (noun f.)
beinviðr ‘holly’
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beinviðr (noun m.; °dat. -i): beinviðr
notes
[8] beinviðr (m.) ‘holly’: Ilex aquifolium. Other than in this þula, the earliest attestation of this word in Old Norse is in Konungs skuggsjá (Holm-Olsen 1983, 22), where it is mentioned in the section which describes the marvels of Ireland (see Introduction to Anon Þulur). It is likely that the word was also used with a broader sense, ‘very hard wood’ (ONP: beinviðr). Cf. also beinn ‘holly’ (l. 6).
notes
[8] mǫpurr (m.) ‘maple’: This term does not occur elsewhere in Old Norse texts, but it is the same word as ModIcel. möpur (cf. OE mapuldor, ModEngl. maple). This tree-name seems to be a conflation of ON mǫsurr ‘burl’ (st. 3/5 below and the B variant) and apaldr ‘apple-tree’ (Wood 1914, 315).
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Some of the tree-heiti listed here are not found in other Old Norse sources, namely, yllir m. ‘elder’ (l. 1), ǫlviðr m. ‘alder’ (l. 3), beinn m. ‘holly’ (l. 6), mǫpurr m. ‘maple’ (l. 8). The following words do not appear elsewhere in poetry: víðir m. ‘willow’ (l. 2), pors m. ‘sweet gale’ (l. 3), viðvindill m. ‘honeysuckle’ (l. 5), fjallhrapi m. ‘dwarf birch’ (l. 6), bók f. ‘beech’ (l. 7), beinviðr m. ‘holly’ (l. 8).
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