Þul Tungls 1^III

Alskír ‘All-bright one’

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alskírr (adj.): altogether brilliant

[1] Alskír: ‘[…]lskirr’ B, ‘Alskirr’ 744ˣ

notes

[1] alskír (f.) ‘all-bright one’: This word is also found in Alv 16/6 and Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85; SnE 1848-87, II, 460), although it is a heiti for ‘sun’ rather than for ‘moon’ in those sources (see Introduction above). Ms. B has ‑skírr m. (adopted in Skj B and Skald; cf. the C(6r) variant alskírr in the list of heiti for ‘sun’ in Skm, SnE 1848-87, II, 592), which is more appropriate as a heiti for ‘moon’ considering máni m. ‘moon’ (l. 3) and the majority of other masculine names listed here. Ms. A has -skír f., however, which also prevails in the heiti list in Skm (cf. alskír R(37r), Tˣ(38v), A(14v)) and might have been the original form of this name. In Alv this heiti (given in the acc.) is listed among the names for ‘sun’ in the languages of various mythical beings (Alv 16/6, NK 126): [kalla] alscír ása synir ‘the sons of the Æsir [call it] all-bright one’.

geisli ‘beam’

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geisli (noun m.): beam of light

ok ‘and’

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

eyglóa ‘ever-glow’

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eyglóa (noun f.): [ever-glow]

[2] eyglóa: ‘ey᷎gl[…]’ B, ‘eýgloe’ 744ˣ

notes

[2] eyglóa (f.) ‘ever-glow’: According to Alv, where this word has the form eygló, this is the name for ‘sun’ among the giants (Alv 16/4, NK 126): [kalla] eygló iǫtnar ‘the giants [call it] ever-glow’. As a sun-heiti, eyglóa is also listed in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85) alongside alskír ‘all-bright one’ (see Note to l. 1 and Introduction), but it is not otherwise found in skaldic verse.

máni ‘moon’

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máni (noun m.; °-a): moon

[3] máni: ‘[…]ne’ B, ‘máne’ 744ˣ

notes

[3] máni (m.) ‘moon’: The word is the only term for ‘moon’ that is frequently used in skaldic and eddic poetry. Perhaps this is the reason why, despite the fact that máni is not as commonly found as tungl ‘moon’ in prose, in Alv 14/1 it is attributed to the language of men and not of the gods (see Note to mulinn ‘crescent’, l. 4).

Miðgarðr ‘Miðgarðr’

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miðgarðr (noun m.): Miðgarðr

notes

[3] Miðgarðr: Lit. ‘mid-yard’. This is a common Germanic mythological name for the abode of men, the earth. As a heiti for ‘moon’, Miðgarðr does not occur elsewhere.

mulinn ‘crescent’

[4] mulinn: mulin B

notes

[4] mulinn (m.) ‘crescent’: The quality and quantity of the root vowel are uncertain (for details, see ÍO: múlinn, mýlinn). Alv 14/1-2 (NK 126) has the variant mylinn: Máni heitir með mǫnnom, | enn mylinn með goðom ‘It is called máni among men but mylinn among the gods’. Güntert (1921, 143) explains mýlinn as ‘fiery’ (cf. Lat. mulleus ‘red, crimson’), but cf. mylir a tvngli ‘covers the moon’ (AÍ II, 90; otherwise the weak verb mýla is attested in the sense ‘muzzle’). According to Alexander Jóhannesson (1927, 47), the correct form of the word is mulinn (from muli, moli ‘small particle’). If so, the heiti probably denotes the moon on the wane (AEW: múlinn, mýlinn; LP: mulinn glossed as aftagende ‘waning’; SnE 1998, II, 358: ‘horned’). Other than in the present þula and in Alv 14/2, the word occurs once in C14th skaldic poetry (Árni Gd 63/3^IV). In Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85), possibly due to confusion of the two lists of heiti, mylin (f.; cf. the variants ‘mysen’ R(37r), C(6r), ‘mylen’ Tˣ(38v), ‘mylin’ A(14v)) is found among the names for ‘sun’, while mulinn (m.) is given as a term for ‘moon’ (cf. the variants there: ‘mvlenn’ R(37r), ‘mulenn’ Tˣ(38v), ‘mvlinn mylinn’ U(36v), ‘mvsinn’ C(6r), but ‘mylinn’ in A(14v)).

tungl ‘moon’

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tungl (noun n.; °-s; -): moon, heavenly body

ok ‘and’

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

glámr ‘twilight’

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glámr (noun m.): [twilight]

[4] glámr: ‘[…]ámr’ B, ‘glamr’ 744ˣ

notes

[4] glámr (m.) ‘twilight’: Although there is no evidence that this word was used in poetry as a heiti for ‘moon’, the Shetland Norn word glom(er) ‘moon, pale light’ shows that glámr as a moon-heiti was no invention of the þulur (cf. also ModIcel. glámur ‘a horse with a white blaze on the forehead’, OE glōm, glōmung ‘twilight’, ModEngl. gloom; AEW: glámr). The word is also found among names of giants (see Þul Jǫtna II 1/8), but Glámr is most famous as Grettir Ásmundarson’s adversary in Gr (chs 32-5, ÍF 7, 107-23).

skýðir ‘hastener’

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skýðir (noun m.): [hastener]

notes

[5] skýðir (m.) ‘hastener’: A hap. leg. The meaning of this heiti is uncertain. It could be related to OE scūðan ‘hurry’, Old Church Slavonic skytati sę ‘wander’ (ÍO: skýðir), and that meaning has been adopted in the present edn. All mss of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85) have (normalised) skyndir ‘hastener’ here, which could be a lectio facilior.

œki ‘moving one’

[5] œki: ok B

notes

[5] œki (m.) ‘moving one’: A hap. leg. The word is derived either from the strong verb aka ‘move, drive’ or from the strong verb auka ‘augment, increase’, hence ‘waxing’ (see AEW: æki). The heiti is not recorded in Skm.

skarmr ‘one dragging forward’

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skarmr (noun m.): one dragging forward

[6] skarmr: skamr B

notes

[6] skarmr (m.) ‘one dragging forward’: The word is otherwise attested in the same form only in the preceding prose list of heiti for ‘moon’ in the A version of Skm (SnE 1848-87, II, 460). This is an obscure word. The name could be related to the weak verb skarma ‘drag oneself along’ (AEW: skarmr) or to the strong verb skera ‘cut’ and, if so, denote the waning moon. But it is also possible to connect it with ModSwed. dialects skärm ‘light in the sky’ (see ÍO: skarm(u)r). Alternatively, the correct form may be ‘skamr’ (so B, and adopted in Skj B and Skald), in this case probably = skammr ‘short’ (adj.). Cf. also sk<r>ámr among the heiti for ‘moon’ in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85; so Tˣ(38v) ‘scramr’, U(36v), C(6r) ‘skramr’, while R(37r) has ‘skamr’), which Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 394) tentatively explains as ‘glarer, dazzler’ or ‘pale one’.

ártali ‘year-counter’

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ártali (noun m.): [year-counter]

notes

[6] ártali (m.) ‘year-counter’: In Alv, this is the name for ‘moon’ in the language of the elves (Alv 14/6, NK 126): kalla álfar ártala ‘the elves call it ártali’. It is also recorded in the list in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85), but as a heiti for ‘moon’ the word does not occur elsewhere. See also Þul Hrafns 2/3.

ný ‘waxing moon’

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ný (noun n.; °; dat. -um): °(om tiltagende månefase) nymåne, ny

notes

[7] ný (n.) ‘waxing moon’: A term for the waxing or even the full moon (see CVC: ný), and the opposite of nið ‘waning moon’ (l. 8) (cf. ModIcel. nið ‘pitch darkness’). The alliterative pair ný oc nið ‘full moon and no moon’ or ‘waxing moon and waning moon’ is found in Vafþr 25/4 (NK 49). Neither word occurs in skaldic poetry.

skjalgr ‘squinter’

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1. Skjalgr (noun m.): Skjálgr

notes

[7] skjalgr (m.) ‘squinter’: The crescent moon (cf. the adj. skjálgr ‘wry, oblique’; see SnE 1998, II, 392). The heiti is also found in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85), but it does not occur in other poetic sources.

lúna ‘lúna’

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lúna (noun f.): [lúna]

notes

[7] lúna: I.e. Lat. lūna. In Old Norse, the word is not attested elsewhere, but it is used in the later rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: lúna). In a number of the þulur which are only recorded in mss A and B, the list of heiti is augmented with Latin and Greek words possibly borrowed from school lexical glosses (see Clunies Ross 1987, 86 and Introduction to Anon Þulur).

nið ‘waning moon’

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2. nið (noun n.)

notes

[8] nið (n.) ‘waning moon’: See Note to ný ‘waxing moon’ (l. 7 above).

fengari ‘fengari’

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fengari (noun m.): [fengari]

notes

[8] fengari (m.): This must be a foreign word, cf. Byzantine Greek φεγγάριον ‘moon’ and Gk φέγγος ‘light’ (AEW, ÍO: fengari; see also Note to l. 7 and Introduction to Anon Þulur). Other than in the present þula, the word is also recorded in the list of heiti for moon in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85; SnE 1848-87, II, 460, 592), but it is not found in any other Old Norse source.