Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Dœgra 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. 914.
Dœgr, hlýrn ok røkr, díes ok lýsing,
dagr, nótt, svefngaman ok draum-Njǫrun,
nox, nis, gríma, njól, myrkfara,
óljós, draum-Vǫr, émispéríum.
Dœgr, hlýrn ok røkr, díes ok lýsing, dagr, nótt, svefngaman ok draum-Njǫrun, nox, nis, gríma, njól, myrkfara, óljós, draum-Vǫr, émispéríum.
Day and night, sky-light and twilight, dies and daybreak, day, night, dream-joy and dream-Njǫrun <goddess>, nox, nis, mask, darkness, dusk-farer, dark one, dream-Vǫr <goddess>, hemisphere.
Mss: A(20r), B(9v), 744ˣ(83r-v) (SnE)
Readings: [1] Dœgr: ‘[…]e᷎gr’ B; hlýrn: so B, ‘hyrn’ A; røkr: ‘ro᷎ckr’ B [2] díes: ‘d[…]’ B, dagr 744ˣ [3] dagr nótt: díes nox B [4] draum‑Njǫrun: ‘dro᷎m nío᷎run’ B [5] nox: nótt B [7] óljós draum‑Vǫr: ‘ol[…]dr[…]vo᷎[…]’ B, ‘ólíos draumvo᷎r’ 744ˣ [8] émispéríum: ‘eimspernim’ A, ‘e[…]’ B, ‘emispū. .’ 744ˣ
Editions: Skj AI, 683, Skj BI, 674, Skald I, 338, NN §30; SnE 1848-87, II, 485, 569.
Notes: [1] hlýrn (n.) ‘sky-light’: This poetic name most likely denotes not a certain time of day but rather heavenly bodies, the sun and the moon (cf. hlýrnir as a heaven-heiti in Þul Himins I l. 13, Þul Himins II l. 7, Ólsv Kristdr 2/3), and it is recorded in Þul Dœgra owing to the natural connection with day and night (so LP: hlýrn). According to de Vries (AEW: hlýrn), the word may mean ‘pair of twins; brother and sister’, as hlýrn appears to be related to hlýri m. ‘brother’. In Old Norse myth, the Sun and the Moon are a brother and sister who were placed in the sky by the gods (Gylf, SnE 2005, 13 and Skm, SnE 1998, I, 39). On the connection between hlýrn and hlýr ‘cheek’, see ÍO: hlýrn. — [2] díes: A Latin word for ‘day’. Other Latin and Greek words in this þula are nox, nis (= Gk νύξ) ‘night’ (l. 5), émispéríum ‘hemisphere’ (l. 8). On the foreign words in the þulur, see Note to Þul Tungls l. 7 and Introduction to Anon Þulur. — [3] svefngaman (n.) ‘dream-joy’: This is the term for ‘night’ in the language of the elves in Alv 30/5 (NK 128): [kalla] álfar svefngaman ‘the elves [call it] dream-joy’. The word does not occur elsewhere (but it is recorded in both LaufE and RE 1665 as well). — [4] draum-Njǫrun ‘dream-Njǫrun <goddess>’: This is the name for ‘night’ among the dwarfs in Alv 30/6 (NK 128): kalla dvergar draumniǫrun ‘the dwarfs call it dream-Njǫrun’. For Njǫrun, a goddess, see Note to Þul Ásynja 1/8. This heiti is not found in other sources (but it is included in the lists in LaufE and RE 1665). — [5] nox, nis: See Note to l. 2 above. — [5] gríma (f.) ‘mask’: A poetic term for ‘night’. In Alv 30/3 (NK 128), gríma is the name for ‘night’ among the gods (ginregin). This metaphorical sense must have been derived from the meaning of the word in the common language, ‘mask’ (i.e. a kind of hood or cowl covering the upper part of the face); hence the night is characterised as mysterious and concealing. The word is also recorded as a heiti for ‘troll-woman’ and ‘helmet’ (Þul Trollkvenna 1/6, Þul Hjálms 2/3; cf. also Óðinn’s names Grímnir and Grímr, Þul Óðins 1/7, 3/1). — [6] njól (f.) ‘darkness’: Or njóla f. (Skm, SnE 1998, I, 99; both forms are f.). In Alv 30/2 (NK 128), njól is the term for ‘night’ með goðom ‘among the gods’. The word is perhaps related to nifl ‘mist, fog’ (cf. OHG nebul ‘mist’; see Güntert 1921, 148 and AEW: njól, njóla). — [6] myrkfara (f.) ‘dusk-farer’: Other than in the present list, the word appears only in LaufE and RE 1665. The name perhaps means ‘one that comes with the darkness’, and hence it is a heiti for ‘night’. — [7] óljós ‘dark one’: Lit. ‘unlight one’, the word is the substantivised f. adj. from óljóss. In Alv 30/4, the word is given as the term for ‘night’ among the giants, and it also occurs in LaufE and RE 1665 but it is not recorded elsewhere as a heiti for ‘night’. — [7] draum-Vǫr ‘dream-Vǫr <goddess>’: A hap. leg. Vǫr is a goddess (see Þul Ásynja 2/4 and Þul Kvenna II 3/5; cf. draum-Njǫrun ‘dream-Njǫrun’, l. 4 above). This name for ‘night’ might also be interpreted as ‘dream-guarding one’ (from the f. adj. vǫr ‘wary, careful’). — [8] émispéríum ‘hemisphere’: Spelled ‘eimspernim’ in A (= Lat. hemisphaerium). This learned term is found elsewhere in glosses and scientific treatises and may have been borrowed from Old English, where it appears in a C8th or C9th glossary accorded the sense semis circulus ‘semi-circle’ and aer ‘air’ (Hessels 1890, 47), and in the late C10th Ramsey monk Byrhtferð’s Enchiridion (Baker and Lapidge 1995, 150) in a diagram illustrating the phases of the moon. As the explanations of this word in Old English glosses (semis circulus, aer) suggest, it cannot be excluded that the term might originally have belonged to the next þula (Þul Himins II), which lists heiti for ‘heaven’.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.