Þul Sverða 6^III

Mímungr ‘Mímungr’

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mímungr (noun m.): °(om sværd)

[1] Mímungr: Mimmungr A

notes

[1] Mímungr: Lit. ‘descendent of Mímir’. The name of Viðga’s sword in Þiðreks saga (Þiðr 1853, 80, etc.). It is also found in the form Mimmungr (so ms. A and the LaufE mss), which is the name of Virga’s sword in Mágus saga jarls (ch. 39, Mág 1858, 92; cf. OE Mimming, OHG Mīmunc, AEW: Mímungr). Mímungr is a derivation of the name Mími(r)/Mime, the teacher of Velent in English and German legendary tradition (including the Old Norse Þiðreks saga). According to most of these sources, the sword was welded by Velent/Wēland/Wieland. The sword-name was also adopted in Old Norse tradition. In Saxo (Saxo 2005, I, 3, 2, 5-6, pp. 192-3), Mimingus is a forest demon. The word is used as a common noun in Vargeisa Lv 2/7^VIII (HjǪ 6). Cf. also hold-Mímir ‘flesh-Mímir’ (st. 5/4 above).

ok ‘and’

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

[1] ok: om. A, B

fellir ‘feller’

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fellir (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i): slayer, feller

notes

[1] fellir (m.) ‘feller’: An agent noun from the weak verb fella ‘fell, slay’. Listed again in st. 9/1 below.

ok ‘and’

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

[2] ok: om. Tˣ

mál ‘ornamented’

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1. mál (noun n.; °-s; -): speech, matter < málvitnir (noun m.)

[2] mál‑: malm‑ B

notes

[2] málvitnir (m.) ‘ornamented wolf’: A kenning whose base-word is vitnir m. ‘wolf’ and the determinant from mál n. ‘ornament, drawing’. For vitnir ‘wolf’, see Þul Vargs 1/2 and vitnir among the sword-heiti (l. 7 below), as well as vargr ‘wolf’ (st. 11/7). Neither vitnir nor vargr otherwise occurs as terms for ‘sword’. The B variant malmvitnir ‘metal-wolf’ is not attested elsewhere, and the LaufE mss, which have (normalised) málvitnir, show that this is a scribal innovation (lectio facilior) in B.

vitnir ‘wolf’

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vitnir (noun m.): wolf < málvitnir (noun m.)

notes

[2] málvitnir (m.) ‘ornamented wolf’: A kenning whose base-word is vitnir m. ‘wolf’ and the determinant from mál n. ‘ornament, drawing’. For vitnir ‘wolf’, see Þul Vargs 1/2 and vitnir among the sword-heiti (l. 7 below), as well as vargr ‘wolf’ (st. 11/7). Neither vitnir nor vargr otherwise occurs as terms for ‘sword’. The B variant malmvitnir ‘metal-wolf’ is not attested elsewhere, and the LaufE mss, which have (normalised) málvitnir, show that this is a scribal innovation (lectio facilior) in B.

taurarr ‘taurar’

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taurarr (noun m.)

notes

[3] taurarr: A hap. leg. The name might be derived from taur ‘golden necklace, ring’, referring to a ring on the knob of a sword (so Falk 1914b, 27, 61; SnE 1998, II, 413), but the existence of such a word is dubious (see AEW: taurar; taurarr and Note to Þjóð Yt 9/9^I).

hræ ‘corpse’

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hræ (noun n.; °; -): corpse, carrion < hrævarðr (noun m.)

notes

[3] hrævarðr (m.) ‘corpse-wrapped one’: An otherwise unattested cpd, from hræ n. ‘corpse, carrion’ and p. p. of the weak verb verja ‘clothe, wrap, enclose’ (so Falk 1914b, 52; SnE 1998, II, 321). The variant hrævaðr in mss A and B (and in the LaufE mss) could be interpreted as ‘one who wades through corpses’, from hræ- and ‑vaðr, an agent noun from the strong verb vaða ‘wade’, playing on the metaphor that a sword steps on corpses.

varðr ‘wrapped one’

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2. -varðr (adj.): [protected] < hrævarðr (noun m.)

[3] ‑varðr: ‑vaðr A, B

notes

[3] hrævarðr (m.) ‘corpse-wrapped one’: An otherwise unattested cpd, from hræ n. ‘corpse, carrion’ and p. p. of the weak verb verja ‘clothe, wrap, enclose’ (so Falk 1914b, 52; SnE 1998, II, 321). The variant hrævaðr in mss A and B (and in the LaufE mss) could be interpreted as ‘one who wades through corpses’, from hræ- and ‑vaðr, an agent noun from the strong verb vaða ‘wade’, playing on the metaphor that a sword steps on corpses.

trani ‘crane’

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2. trani (noun m.; °-a): crane

notes

[4] trani (m.) ‘crane’: The heiti may describe a sword with a hilt curved like a crane’s neck (so Falk 1914b, 62) or it could possibly be the proper name of a sword (cf. Trani, King Óláfr Tryggvason’s warship). As a sword-heiti the word does not occur elsewhere. See also trani ‘crane’ (Þul Orma 2/4).

vind ‘wind’

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1. vindr (noun m.; °-s/-ar; -ar): wind < vindþvari (noun m.)

[4] vind‑: ‘[…]’ B, ‘. . .’ 744ˣ

notes

[4] vindþvari (m.) ‘wind-borer’: Not attested elsewhere as a cpd. Most likely the sense of this term is ‘one that pierces the air with strokes’ (cf. Meissner 8). Falk (1914b, 63) suggests that the heiti means either ‘oblique-borer’ (from the adj. vindr ‘oblique, warped’) or ‘Wendish borer’, i.e. a Wendish sword (from Vindr, Vindir ‘Wends’). Cf. also ormþvari ‘serpent-borer’ (st. 2/4, see Note there).

þvari ‘borer’

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þvari (noun m.): borer < vindþvari (noun m.)

notes

[4] vindþvari (m.) ‘wind-borer’: Not attested elsewhere as a cpd. Most likely the sense of this term is ‘one that pierces the air with strokes’ (cf. Meissner 8). Falk (1914b, 63) suggests that the heiti means either ‘oblique-borer’ (from the adj. vindr ‘oblique, warped’) or ‘Wendish borer’, i.e. a Wendish sword (from Vindr, Vindir ‘Wends’). Cf. also ormþvari ‘serpent-borer’ (st. 2/4, see Note there).

liðnir ‘one belonging to an army’

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liðnir (noun m.)

notes

[5] liðnir (m.) ‘one belonging to an army’: A hap. leg. The word is probably related to lið n. ‘host, troop’, although, according to Falk (1914b, 54), the heiti may have been derived from liðr m. ‘joint of the body’, denoting a sword with a crooked hilt, which is not immediately transparent.

Kvern ‘Kvern’

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kvern (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-ar): [hand-mill] < kvernbiti (noun m.)

notes

[5] Kvernbiti: This is the name of a sword owned by Hákon inn góði ‘the Good’ Haraldsson, which can be translated as ‘millstone-biter’ (from kvern f. ‘handmill’ and the strong verb bíta ‘bite’). In this form it also occurs in Ágrip (ÍF 29, 10, 11), but Kvernbítr (so mss A, B and the LaufE mss) is the form used in Hkr (ÍF 26, 146, 185, 190); both variants are found in Fsk (ÍF 29, 75, 86, 90). The origin of the name is explained as follows in Hkr (ÍF 26, 146): Aðalsteinn konungr gaf Hákoni sverð þat … þar hjó Hákon með kvernstein til augans. Þat var síðan kallat Kvernbítr ‘King Æthelstan gave Hákon that sword … with it Hákon split a millstone down to the centre. It was later called Millstone-biter’. The heiti does not occur in poetry (but cf. Leggbiti ‘Leg-biter’ or Leggbítr, st. 2/5 above).

biti ‘biti’

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biti (noun m.; °-a; -ar): mouthful, bite < kvernbiti (noun m.)

[5] ‑biti: ‑bítir C, ‑bítr A, ‘‑bit[…]’ B, ‘‑bitr’ 744ˣ

notes

[5] Kvernbiti: This is the name of a sword owned by Hákon inn góði ‘the Good’ Haraldsson, which can be translated as ‘millstone-biter’ (from kvern f. ‘handmill’ and the strong verb bíta ‘bite’). In this form it also occurs in Ágrip (ÍF 29, 10, 11), but Kvernbítr (so mss A, B and the LaufE mss) is the form used in Hkr (ÍF 26, 146, 185, 190); both variants are found in Fsk (ÍF 29, 75, 86, 90). The origin of the name is explained as follows in Hkr (ÍF 26, 146): Aðalsteinn konungr gaf Hákoni sverð þat … þar hjó Hákon með kvernstein til augans. Þat var síðan kallat Kvernbítr ‘King Æthelstan gave Hákon that sword … with it Hákon split a millstone down to the centre. It was later called Millstone-biter’. The heiti does not occur in poetry (but cf. Leggbiti ‘Leg-biter’ or Leggbítr, st. 2/5 above).

ljómi ‘brightness’

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ljómi (noun m.; °-a): light, beam

notes

[6] ljómi (m.) ‘brightness’: This is also the name of a dwarf (Þul Dverga 6/4), but ljómi is otherwise not attested as a heiti for ‘sword’ (or ‘dwarf’) except for an unclear instance in the later rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: ljómi). Falk (1914b, 54) argues that the word might be a half-kenning because it is frequently used as a base-word in sword-kennings (cf. LP: ljómi). Cf. also Sigrljómi ‘Battle-brightness’, the name of Hrólfr kraki’s sword (FSN III, 439, 450).

herðir ‘hardened one’

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herðir (noun m.): sword

notes

[6] herðir (m.) ‘hardened one’: From herðr ‘hardened’ (p. p. of the weak verb herða ‘temper (iron)’; see Heggstad et al. 2008: 1. herða and SnE 1998, II, 307). The agent noun herðir ‘hardener, strengthener’ is used as a base-word in man-kennings.

vitnir ‘wolf’

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vitnir (noun m.): wolf

[7] vitnir: om. C

notes

[7] vitnir (m.) ‘wolf’: For a discussion of this word, see Þul Vargs 1/2.

yfrir ‘overcomer’

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yfrir (noun m.)

[7] yfrir: ‘iferr’ C, yfri A, 744ˣ, ‘[…]’ B

notes

[7] yfrir (m.) ‘overcomer’: A hap. leg. According to Falk (1914b, 64), it is probably related to a verb *yfra (OSwed. yfra sik ‘prosper’, ModSwed. dialects övra sej ‘flourish’; cf. þrór ‘thriver’, st. 3/5, with a similar meaning). Alternatively, this heiti could be interpreted as ‘that which is raised’ (cf. SnE 1998, II, 432).

veggjalestir ‘damager of walls’

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veggjalestir (noun m.)

[8] veggjalestir: so A, 744ˣ, ‘vægia lęstir’ R, ‘vegia lestir’ Tˣ, ‘veægialestir’ C, ‘[…]ggia […]ir’ B

notes

[8] veggjalestir (m.) ‘damager of walls’: So A and 744ˣ. The heiti, which is not attested elsewhere, is formed from veggr m. ‘wall’ or ‘shield-row along the railing of a ship’ (veggja- gen. pl.) and the weak verb lesta ‘break up, damage’, hence ‘one that breaks up a shield-row on board ship’ (Falk 1914b, 62; SnE 1998, II, 423). The R variant (normalised) vægja- could be construed as ‘wavy damager’ or ‘sword-damager’ (cf. vægir m. ‘wavy one’ and the variant reading vægileiptr, st. 4/1, see Note there).