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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Þul Sverða 5III

Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 798.

Anonymous ÞulurSverða heiti
456

Hvati, hǫfuðhvessingr,         hausamølvir,
hræva-Gautr, herbrái         ok hold-Mímir,
bensœgr, brigðir,         Brimir, huglognir,
skyggðir, skreyfir,         skarðr, grindlogi.

Hvati, hǫfuðhvessingr, hausamølvir, hræva-Gautr, herbrái ok hold-Mímir, bensœgr, brigðir, Brimir, huglognir, skyggðir, skreyfir, skarðr, grindlogi.

Quick one, head-sharpener, crusher of skulls, Gautr of corpses, war-shining one and flesh-Mímir, wound-strip, fickle one, Brimir, clinch-failer, polished one, heaper, notched one, gate-flame.

Mss: R(43r), Tˣ(44v), A(18v), B(8v), 744ˣ(67v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] hǫfuðhvessingr: so all others, ‘h[…]ssingr’ R    [2] hausamølvir: so Tˣ, A, B, hausamǫlnir R    [3] hræva‑Gautr: ‘hre᷎fag[…]r’ B, ‘þre᷎fagautr’ 744ˣ;    ‑brái: ‘‑bra[…]’ B, ‘‑brae’ 744ˣ    [5] bensœgr: ‘be[…]g[…]’ B, ‘bense᷎gr’ 744ˣ    [6] Brimir: so Tˣ, ‘b[…]’ R, brimarr A, B;    huglognir: ‘huðlognir’ Tˣ, ‘hv́ðlognir’ A, ‘hudlau[…]nir’ B, ‘hudlaugnir’ 744ˣ    [7] skyggðir: ‘skyggþær’ A;    skreyfir: ‘skreivir’ R, ‘screuuir’ Tˣ, ‘skryvir’ A, ‘skrýd‑’ B    [8] skarðr: skarði A, ‑skarði ok B

Editions: Skj AI, 663, Skj BI, 663, Skald I, 328; SnE 1848-87, I, 565, II, 476, 559-60, 619, SnE 1931, 201, SnE 1998, I, 119.

Notes: [All]: The arrangement of heiti in ll. 1-6 of this stanza in ms. C(12r) differs from that in the other mss and cannot be construed to make any sense metrically. Ms. C has therefore not been considered in the variant apparatus above (relevant readings are discussed in the Notes below). The C variant reads as follows: ‘Herbraí ok hoddmímir bensígr brígdír brumr huatí haufuts spesíngr hausa míoluer hræuagautr huglognir skygder skræuir skardr grindlogi’. — [1] hvati (m.) ‘quick one’: Cf. the adj. hvatr ‘quick’, hvati m. ‘haste, hurry’, and the weak verb hvata ‘hasten’. Hvati occurs once as the base-word in a man-kenning (Egill Hfl 19/3V (Eg 52)), but it is not attested as a heiti for ‘sword’. — [1] hǫfuðhvessingr (m.) ‘head-sharpener’: Not otherwise attested as a cpd. The first part, hǫfuð-, is most likely an intensifying element (cf. Falk 1914b, 53), the second element is from the weak verb hvessa ‘sharpen’; hence ‘mighty sharpener’. — [2] hausamølvir (m.) ‘crusher of skulls’: So , A, B. An otherwise unattested cpd from hauss m. ‘skull’ (hausa- gen. pl.) and the weak verb mølva ‘shiver, break’ (ModIcel. mölva ‘shatter, crush’), which in Old Norse occurs only in poetry (cf. Goth. gamalwjan ‘crush’; AEW: mølva). The R variant ‑mǫlnir may be a scribal error for ‑molnir from the weak verb molna ‘crumble’, hence ‘-grinder(?)’ (so SnE 1998, II, 303). — [3] hræva-Gautr ‘Gautr of corpses’: Either a sword from Götaland (ON Gautland) (so Falk 1914b, 52), or possibly connected with Gautr, a name for Óðinn (see Þul Óðins 1/6; cf. also SnE 1998, II, 321). The first element of the cpd (hræva) is gen. pl. of hræ n. ‘corpse’. The cpd is not found elsewhere. — [3] herbrái (m.) ‘war-shining one’: From her- ‘host-, war-’ and the weak verb brá, brjá ‘flicker’ (cf. also herberi ‘war-striker’, st. 2/7). The cpd is not found elsewhere. — [4] hold-Mímir ‘flesh-Mímir’: An otherwise unattested cpd from hold n. ‘flesh’ and Mímir, the name of a wise giant, the keeper of the well of wisdom in Old Norse myth (see Þul Jǫtna I 1/3, but cf. Mímungr, st. 6/1). Falk (1914b, 52; cf. also SnE 1998, II, 315) interprets this word as a kenning for ‘sword’ (‘flesh-giant’ or ‘flesh-fiend’), but there is no such kenning-pattern. The C variant hodd-Mímir ‘hoard-Mímir’ is probably caused by confusion with the pers. n. Hoddmimir, ‑mímir, Vafþr 45/3 (NK 53). — [5] bensœgr (m.) ‘wound-strip’: So R and the majority of the ms. witnesses. An otherwise unattested cpd from ben f./n. ‘wound’ and sœgr m. ‘strip’ (cf. SnE 1998, II, 242). The C variant bensigr m. ‘wound-victory’ must be a lectio facilior. — [5] brigðir (m.) ‘fickle one’: According to Falk (1914b, 48), the word is not an agent noun from the strong verb brigða (= bregða ‘brandish (a sword)’) but more likely related to the adj. brigðr ‘faithless, unsafe’ (see also brigð n. ‘change’ and huglognir ‘clinch-failer’, l. 6). It could also be an agent noun from the weak verb brigða ‘recover sth. by lawful procedure, make void, revoke, recant’. The word occurs twice in this list (see also st. 8/5), but it is not found elsewhere in Old Norse poetry. It is attested in the later rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: brigðir). — [6] Brimir: Lit. ‘flickerer’. A poetic term for ‘sword’, originally a proper name. In Sigrdr 14/2, Brimir is the name of Óðinn’s sword, and in Grí 44 (ms. A; NK 66) it is praised as the best of swords. The heiti is probably related to brimi m. ‘fire’; alternatively, it could be identical with a giant’s name (see LP: 2. Brimir; Falk 1914b, 48; SnE 1998, II, 450). — [6] huglognir (m.) ‘clinch-failer’: A cpd not found elsewhere, whose first element is most likely *hugr (cf. hugró ‘clinch-plate’, st. 12/3), a metal clinch on a sword’s hilt. The second element must be an agent noun from a weak verb *logna derived from the p. p. loginn of the strong verb ljúga ‘lie’. Huglognir would then be a sword whose upper clinch was easily broken off (so Falk 1914b, 53; cf. ljúgfengr ‘fail-striking one’, st. 10/5). The , A and B variant húðlognir m. means ‘skin-failer’ (so also the LaufE mss). — [7] skyggðir (m.) ‘polished one’: From skyggðr ‘bright, polished’ (p. p. of the weak verb skyggja ‘polish’) and not attested elsewhere. — [7] skreyfir (m.) ‘heaper’: A hap. leg. The spelling varies in the mss: ‘skreivir’ R, ‘screuuir’ , ‘skræuir’ C, ‘skryfir’ A, ‘skríd-’ B (the LaufE mss have ‘skrÿver’ (papp10ˣ), ‘skryuer’ (2368ˣ) and ‘skryver’ (743ˣ)). Cf. ModIcel. skreyfa, New Norw. skrøyva ‘to heap high’. The term may denote a sword that piles up a heap of corpses (Falk 1914b, 59). — [8] skarðr (m.) ‘notched one’: This substantivised adj. is not attested elsewhere in Old Norse poetry as a heiti for ‘sword’, but it is found in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: skarðr). See neðanskarðr ‘end-notched one’ (st. 1/6), skerðir ‘diminisher’ (st. 8/6) and skerðingr ‘notcher’ (st. 7/2). The A, B variant skarði (so also the LaufE mss) is the name of the sword of one of the Baglar chieftains, Andres Símonarson, in Hák (Flat 1860-8, III, 27). — [8] grindlogi ‘gate-flame’: See st. 3/7.

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. 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.
  9. Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
  10. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  11. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
  12. Internal references
  13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar’ 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, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=33> (accessed 29 March 2024)
  14. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jǫtna heiti I 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. 707.
  15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 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. 732.
  16. Not published: do not cite ()
  17. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 52 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Hǫfuðlausn 19)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 262.
  18. Not published: do not cite ()
  19. Not published: do not cite ()
  20. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ 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=10928> (accessed 29 March 2024)
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