Þul Sverða 7^III

Skelkvingr, fylvingr,         flæmingr, skerðingr,
skotningr, Skilfingr,         Skǫfnungr, rifjungr,
brotningr, Hvítingr,         Bæsingr, Tyrfingr,
hœkingr ok hringr;         hittask mun nættingr.

Skelkvingr, fylvingr, flæmingr, skerðingr, skotningr, Skilfingr, Skǫfnungr, rifjungr, brotningr, Hvítingr, Bæsingr, Tyrfingr, hœkingr ok hringr; hittask mun nættingr.

Terrifier, fylvingr, chaser, notcher, shooter, Skilfingr, Skǫfnungr, tearer, broken one, Hvítingr, Bæsingr, Tyrfingr, hooked one and ring; one will come across night-bringer.

Mss: R(43r), Tˣ(44v), C(12r), A(18v), B(8v), 744ˣ(68r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Skelkvingr: skelvingr C, Skelkingr A, B;    fylvingr: ‘filbuíngr’ C, ‘fillingr’ A, ‘fillinngr’ B    [2] skerðingr: ‘skerd[…]n[…]’ B, ‘skerdingr’ 744ˣ    [3] Skilfingr: om. C    [4] rifjungr: ‘rífungr’ B    [5] brotningr: so Tˣ, C, A, ‘brotnigr’ R, hvítingr B;    Hvítingr: ‘[…]e᷎singr’ B, ‘be᷎singr’ 744ˣ    [6] Bæsingr: bæsingr hvítingr C, ‘[…]rfinngr’ B, ‘týrfinngr’ 744ˣ;    Tyrfingr: ‘he᷎kinng[…]’ B, ‘he᷎kinngr’ 744ˣ    [7] hœkingr ok: hittask mun B    [8] hittask mun: ok B;    nættingr: so A, nettingr R, ‘nectingr’ Tˣ, nætingr C, ‘re[…]ngr’ B, ‘re᷎ttingr’ 744ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 663-4, Skj BI, 664, Skald I, 328, NN §§348A, 2565A; SnE 1848-87, I, 566, II, 476, 560, 620, SnE 1931, 201, SnE 1998, I, 120.

Notes: [All]: Only two of the heiti in this stanza are given in LaufE (see Notes to ll. 1 and 6 below). Aside from five heiti that appear in st. 10 and two heiti from st. 11, none of the heiti in sts 8-11 is recorded in LaufE. — [1] skelkvingr (m.) ‘terrifier’: Or skelkingr (so A, B). From skelkr m. ‘fear’; cf. such similar sword-heiti as skǫlk(v)ingr ‘terrifier’ (see LP: skǫlkvingr), skolkr ‘frightening one’ (st. 2/1) and œgir ‘frightener’ (st. 8/3). — [1] fylvingr (m.): According to Kock (NN §348A), this heiti is derived from the adj. fǫlr ‘pale’ and it has the metaphoric meaning ‘killer’; cf. fǫlr sem nár ‘pale as a corpse’ (see also fǫlvir ‘pale one’, st. 9/1), but that derivation is problematic (see Note to Eil Þdr 15/2). Falk (1914b, 50) suggests that the word is taken from Þdr 15/2, but the sense ‘sword’ in that stanza is highly doubtful (fylvingar normally means ‘nuts’; see also Note to Þskakk Erldr 1/7^II). Mss A and B have ‘fillin(n)gr’ (fillingr m. ‘woolly sheep-skin’) which makes no sense in this context. The LaufE mss have (normalised) fylvingr and follow the R, Tˣ, C redaction here. — [2] flæmingr (m.) ‘chaser’: This sword-heiti is most likely derived from the weak verb flæma ‘chase away, drive away’ (AEW: flæmingr 3). Alternatively, it may be the same word as flæmingi ‘Flemish’ in the meaning ‘Flemish sword’ (so Falk 1914b, 49; cf. also SnE 1998, II, 277). See also Note to Þjóð Yt 14/5^I. — [2] skerðingr (m.) ‘notcher’: An agent noun from the weak verb skerða ‘notch, diminish’. A derivation from the adj. skarðr ‘notched, damaged, diminished’ or the noun skarð n. ‘notch’ (see Falk 1914b, 59; SnE 1998, II, 391) is less attractive. Cf. skarðr ‘notched one’ (st. 5/8), skerðir ‘diminisher’ (st. 8/6) and neðanskarðr ‘end-notched one’ (st. 1/6). — [3] skotningr (m.) ‘shooter’: A hap. leg. which also can mean ‘shot one’. According to Falk (1914b, 59), the heiti is probably a term for a sword that could be thrown (handsax), derived from the strong verb skjóta ‘shoot’ (skjóta spjóti, sverði ‘shoot a spear, a sword’; cf. skot n. ‘shot’). Alternatively, the word could be derived from the weak verb skotna ‘gain, have a piece of good luck’ and mean ‘gainer’ (cf. AEW: skotna). — [3] Skilfingr: A Skilfingr is a descendant of a legendary royal family, the Skilfingar (OE Scylfingas; see references in Beowulf 2008, 471-2), and the possible meaning of this sword-heiti is ‘sword of the Skilfingar’ (Falk 1914b, 59). See also Þul Óðins 8/5 and Þul Konunga 3/3. — [4] Skǫfnungr: Lit. ‘polished one’. This is the name of the sword of King Hrólfr kraki (Hrólf, FSN I, 93, 102, 109), which is also mentioned in a number of Íslendinga sǫgur (cf. Korm ch. 9, ÍF 8, 233-6). In poetry it is used only as a common noun. Cf. skafningr m. ‘polished one’ among Heiti á sverði (st. 11/5), from the strong verb skafa ‘shave, plane’, as well as skafin sverð ‘polished swords’ (SnSt Ht 8/4). — [4] rifjungr (m.) ‘tearer’: This heiti may be related to the strong verb rífa ‘tear’ (SnE 1998, II, 377). Alternatively, it may be connected with rifr (-jar) m. ‘the beam on which the warp hung’ in ancient looms (Falk 1914b, 58). The word is found in Glúmr Gráf 7/2^I. — [5] brotningr (m.) ‘broken one’: From the weak verb brotna ‘break’ (intransitive), perhaps denoting a sword made of fragments, brot (so Falk 1914b, 48), or ‘breaker’ (tentatively suggested in SnE 1998, II, 252). This heiti is not attested elsewhere. — [5] Hvítingr: Lit. ‘white one’. Hólmgǫngu-Bersi Véleifsson’s sword in Korm (chs 9-10, ÍF 8, 234-9). Cf. also Huytingus, Regnald’s sword in Saxo (Saxo 2005, I, 7, 9, 11, pp. 486-7). The word does not occur as a common noun for ‘sword’ in Old Norse poetry, but it is attested as a sword-heiti in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: hvítingr). See also Þul Sjóvar 4/2 and Þul Sækonunga 3/3 (and Note there). — [6] Bæsingr: The sword stolen from the burial mound of Óláfr Geirstaðaálfr ‘Elf from Geirstaðir’ and given to S. Óláfr (ÓH 1941, II, 754-5; Flat 1860-8, II, 9, 12-13). According to ÓH (loc. cit.), this sword later got the name Hneitir (see the latter in st. 2/7 above). Bæsingr is probably derived from a nickname (cf. bæsingr m. ‘child of an outlawed mother’ from báss m. ‘a cow’s stall’; see Falk 1914b, 48-9). The heiti is not otherwise attested in Old Norse poetry, but it appears in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: bæsingr). Bæsingr is also recorded in LaufE. — [6] Tyrfingr: This is the name of Angantýr’s sword (Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, Ǫrvar-Odds saga, FSN I, 415-24 etc., II, 215), and the word is used as a sword-heiti in poetry. It is probably derived from tyrfi n. ‘resinous fir-tree, hard wood’ or related to the ethnic name of the tribe Tervingi (see Falk 1914b, 62). Kahle (1903, 209-10) derives Tyrfingr from torf n. ‘turf, sod’ because that sword was hidden in the ground (lit. ‘one found in the ground’; cf. LP: Tyrfingr). — [7] hœkingr (m.) ‘hooked one’: Perhaps a sword with a hooked hilt (cf. hœkja f. ‘crutch’; so Falk 1914b, 53; SnE 1998, II, 326). See also Þul Sea-kings l. 3. — [7] hringr (m.) ‘ring’: A poetic word frequently used by the skalds as pars pro toto for ‘sword’ and referring to the ring on a sword’s hilt (Falk 1914b, 52; on this type of sword, see also Steuer 2003b, 22-4). Hringr is also found as heiti for ‘ship’ and ‘serpent’ (Þul Skipa 3/1, Þul Orma 2/7). — [8] nættingr (m.) ‘night-bringer’: So A (see Readings above). This is an obscure word. Other than in the present þula this sword-heiti appears only once (Þorm Lv 5/8^V (Fbr 23)). The word is derived from the weak verb nætta ‘pass the night’ (cf. nótt f. ‘night’) and could mean either ‘night-bringer’ (i.e. ‘killer’) or ‘one made by night’ (ÍO: nættingur; SnE 1998, II, 365). Falk (1914b, 57) suggests that nættingr may have been a proper name and, if so, possibly the same as the bird-name nætingr (see Þul Fugla 6/2; cf. the sword-heiti ǫrn ‘eagle’, st. 8/3 below).

References

1. Bibliography
2. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. 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.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
11. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
12. 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.
13. Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
14. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
15. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
16. Saxo 2005 = Friis-Jensen, Karsten, ed. 2005. Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum / Danmarkshistorien. Trans. Peter Zeeberg. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Det danske sprog- og litteraturselskab & Gads forlag.
17. ÍF 8 = Vatnsdœla saga. Ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson. 1939.
18. Kahle, Bernhard. 1903. ‘Altwestnordische Namenstudien’. IF 14, 133-224.
19. Steuer, Heiko. 2003b. ‘Ringschwert’. In RGA, 25, 22-4.
20. Internal references
21. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 367. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=23> (accessed 19 April 2024)
22. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ǫrvar-Odds saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 804. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=35> (accessed 19 April 2024)
23. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=53> (accessed 19 April 2024)
24. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hrólfs saga kraka’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 539. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=73> (accessed 19 April 2024)
25. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Kormáks saga’ 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, pp. 1031-1181. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=83> (accessed 19 April 2024)
26. Not published: do not cite (HólmgB^V)
27. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Heiti for sea-kings’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 987. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1045> (accessed 19 April 2024)
28. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sækonunga 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. 681.
29. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Konunga 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. 690.
30. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 8’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 751.
31. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Orma heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 929.
32. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sjóvar 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. 836.
33. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Fugla heiti 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 957.
34. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Skipa 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. 865.
35. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Eilífr Goðrúnarson, Þórsdrápa 15’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 108.
36. Alison Finlay (ed.) 2012, ‘Glúmr Geirason, Gráfeldardrápa 7’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 256.
37. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 8’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1112.
38. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 14’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 31.
39. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2022, ‘Fóstbrœðra saga 23 (Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 5)’ 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. 519.
40. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorbjǫrn skakkaskáld, Erlingsdrápa 1’ 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. 631-4.
41. (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 19 April 2024)