Þul Ǫrvar 1^III

Ǫr es ok akka,         oddr, hvítmýlingr,
fenja ok drífa,         Flaug, dynfara,
bǫsl, bǫl, bílda,         broddr ok Hremsa,
gǫgnflaug ok þrǫs,         gǫgn ok skaptsnǫr.

Ǫr es ok akka, oddr, hvítmýlingr, fenja ok drífa, Flaug, dynfara, bǫsl, bǫl, bílda, broddr ok Hremsa, gǫgnflaug ok þrǫs, gǫgn ok skaptsnǫr.

Arrow is also akka, point, white-muzzled one, bristly one and snow-drift, Flaug, noisy-goer, bǫsl, bale, lancet, barb and Hremsa, gain-flight and storm, gains and shaft-quick one.

Mss: R(43r), Tˣ(45r), C(12r), A(19r), B(8v), 744ˣ(70r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Ǫr: ‘[…]vr’ B, ‘Aur’ 744ˣ;    es (‘er’): om. B;    ok: om. Tˣ;    akka: ‘a[…]ka’ B, ‘acka’ 744ˣ    [3] ok: om. A, B    [4] Flaug: so A, B, flug R, Tˣ, C    [5] bǫsl: bǫl C, om. B    [6] ok: om. Tˣ    [7] gǫgn‑: gagn‑ Tˣ, C;    þrǫs: ‘þreus’ Tˣ, ‘þre᷎s’ B    [8] gǫgn ok: om. A, B;    skapt‑: ‘scafst’ Tˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 666, Skj BI, 665, Skald I, 329; SnE 1848-87, I, 570, II, 478, 561, 621, SnE 1931, 203, SnE 1998, I, 122.

Notes: [1] akka: A hap. leg. and an obscure word. According to Falk (1914b, 100), the heiti might be a term for an arrow with a bone-point (cf. MHG anke ‘joint’, OHG enka ‘hip, bone’; AEW: akka). Alternatively, the heiti could be derived from the Indo-European root *ak- ‘sharp’ (cf. ON egg ‘edge’; see AEW: akka). — [2] oddr (m.) ‘point’: See also Þul Sverða 10/1. — [2] hvítmýlingr (m.) ‘white-muzzled one’: A poetic word for ‘arrow’, whose second element is derived from múli m. or múll m. ‘muzzle, the mouth of beasts’, hence ‘one with a bright muzzle (i.e. ‘point’)’ (cf. hvítir broddar ‘white (i.e. bright) points’; see Falk 1914b, 96). See also Note to Gísl Magnkv 13/7^II. — [3] fenja (f.) ‘bristly one’: This heiti is not used by the skalds. According to Falk (1914b, 100), the word is related to ON tálkfǫn ‘filament, fibre in baleen, whalebone’, i.e. the fibres on both sides of the gums that resemble the tail of a swallow, and he suggests that fenja may denote a type of Viking-Age arrow with split points (see also Kock 1898, 262). Cf. ModIcel. fön ‘fan of a feather’. Fenja is also the name of a giantess in Grott 1/4. — [3] drífa (f.) ‘snow-drift’: The heiti is probably derived from such a battle-kenning as drífa ǫrva ‘snow-drift of arrows’ (see Falk 1914b, 99), but drífa alone does not occur as a term for ‘arrow’. — [4] Flaug: So A, B (and Skj B, Skald). Lit. ‘flight’. This is the name of one of King Gusi(r)’s magic arrows captured by Ketill hœngr ‘Salmon’ (see Ketils saga hœngs ch. 3, FSN II, 122; see also Hremsa, l. 6, Fífa, st. 2/2 and Note to st. 2/4, as well as Forað Lv 6/1, 3^VIII (Ket 27) and Note there). The word is not attested as a common noun with the meaning ‘arrow’. The R, Tˣ, C variant flug n. ‘flight’ is also possible (and adopted in SnE 1998) but less likely in view of the other arrows belonging to Gusir and enumerated in the present þula. — [4] dynfara (f.) ‘noisy-goer’: An otherwise unattested cpd from dynr m. ‘din, noise’ and fara, a f. form of the m. agent noun fari from the strong verb fara ‘go, move’. Cf. also the m. form dynfari ‘din-farer’ as a heiti for ‘wind’ (Þul Veðra 2/6). The f. fara in the present heiti must have been chosen because of the f. gender of ǫr ‘arrow’ (see Gurevich 1992a). — [5] bǫsl (f.): The meaning of the word may be ‘little twig’ (< Gmc *basulō; cf. basinn as a heiti for ‘tree’ (Þul Viðar 1/6) and New Norw. base ‘bush’; see Falk 1914b, 99-100). Alternatively, bǫsl (< bǫstl), may be derived from bast n. ‘string’ with the suffix ‑ul-, and hence ‘sth. put onto or thrown from a string’, i.e. ‘arrow’ (so Sturtevant 1926, 370). — [5] bílda (f.) ‘lancet’: The m. noun bíldr occurs in poetry as a heiti for ‘arrow’, but the weak f. form of the word is not found elsewhere (see also Note to dynfara, l. 4 above). — [6] Hremsa: Lit. ‘shaft’ (see ÞjóðA Sex 15/3^II), either from the weak verb hremsa, hremma ‘grasp, clutch’ (so Falk 1914b, 99) or from hremsa f. ‘paw, claw’ (so AEW: hremsa). This is the name of one of King Gusir’s arrows captured by Ketill hœngr (see Notes to Flaug, l. 4 above and to smíðis Gusis ‘Gusir’s handiwork’, st. 2/4 below). — [7] gǫgnflaug (f.) ‘gain-flight’: Depending on the meaning of the first element of the cpd, this heiti, which occurs only here, may be translated as ‘gain-flight’ (from gagn n. ‘gain’ and flaug f., see Note to l. 4), or ‘flight against’ (from the adv. gegn/gǫgn ‘against (sth.)’). — [7] þrǫs (f.) ‘storm’: A hap. leg. derived from the weak verb þrasa ‘talk big’ or ‘storm ahead, tear along’ (see Falk 1914b, 99), or possibly a f. new formation to þras n. ‘fight, noise, tumult’ (attested only in Modern Icelandic). — [8] gǫgn (n. pl.) ‘gains’: See Note to gǫgnflaug ‘gain-flight’ (l. 7). The word is otherwise not attested as a heiti for ‘arrow’. — [8] skaptsnǫr (f.) ‘shaft-quick one’: An otherwise unattested cpd from skapt n. ‘shaft’ and the adj. snarr ‘swift’ (see Falk 1914b, 99; SnE 1998, II, 390).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. 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.
5. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
7. Gurevich, Elena A. 1992a. ‘Skaldische Synonymik und ihre Interpretation in der frühen isländischen gelehrten Poetik: Über eine Systematisierungsmöglichkeit der Heiti in den Þulur’. In Popowa 1992, 15-30.
8. Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
9. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Kock, Axel. 1898. ‘Studier i de nordiska språkens historia’. ANF 14, 213-70.
12. Sturtevant, Albert Morey. 1926. ‘Some Old Norse Etymologies’. MLN 41, 370-5.
13. Internal references
14. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ketils saga hœngs’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 548. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=71> (accessed 7 May 2024)
15. Not published: do not cite (Keth^VIII)
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Viðar 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. 881.
17. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 10’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 808.
18. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Veðra 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. 919.
19. Not published: do not cite ()
20. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Gísl Illugason, Erfikvæði about Magnús berfœttr 13’ 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. 425-6.
21. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 15’ 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. 127-8.
22. Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2017, ‘Ketils saga hœngs 27 (Forað, Lausavísur 6)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 579.