Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Ǫrvar 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. 820.
Flugglǫð, flugsvinn, Fífa ok skeyti,
geta skal fennu ok Gusis smíðis;
Jólfs smíði es, en øfst þura.
Flugglǫð, flugsvinn, Fífa ok skeyti, skal geta fennu ok smíðis Gusis; es smíði Jólfs, en øfst þura.
Flight-bright one, flight-swift one, Fífa and missile, I shall mention finder and Gusir’s handiwork; there is Jólfr’s handiwork and the last is whizzer.
Mss: R(43r), Tˣ(45r), C(12r-v), A(19r), B(8v), 744ˣ(70r-v) (SnE)
Readings: [1] ‑glǫð: glǫð ok Tˣ, A, B [2] skeyti: ‘skeuti’ Tˣ [3] geta skal fennu: om. B; fennu: so A, fenna R, Tˣ, C [4] smíðis: nauta C, smíði B [5] Jólfs: so A, jóls R, Tˣ, ‘iauls’ C, ‘julfs’ B; es (‘er’): ‘her’ A, B [6] en: ok C, er A, B
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] flugglǫð, flugsvinn ‘flight-bright one, flight-swift one’: Neither heiti occurs elsewhere as a term for ‘arrow’. The first element in the compounds is flug n. ‘flight’, and the second elements are the adjectives glaðr ‘glad, bright’ and svinnr ‘quick’. — [2] Fífa: Lit. ‘cotton-grass’, originally the name of a plant (Eriophorum) and here referring to an arrow with a plume. This is another of King Gusir’s arrows (see also Flaug st. 1/4, Hremsa st. 1/6 and smíðis Gusis ‘Gusir’s handiwork’ st. 2/4). Fífa ‘Arrow’ is also the name of a ship (see Falk 1914b, 99 and Rv Lv 8/5II). Fífa as a heiti for ‘arrow’ in general does not occur in poetry earlier than in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: fífa). — [3] geta skal fennu ‘I shall mention finder’: So A. The verb geta takes the gen. (fennu f. gen. sg.), and fenna (so R, Tˣ) is nom. sg. (unless fenna in these mss is gen. pl. or gen. of a weak m. noun fenni). The heiti is a hap. leg., probably derived from the strong verb finna ‘find’, hence ‘one that finds its target’ (AEW: fenna). However, in view of drífa ‘snow-drift’ (st. 1/3) and the traditional image of arrows as snow or hail in skaldic poetry, the heiti could be connected with the weak verb fenna ‘cover with snow’ and, if so, might mean ‘snow-storm’ (see Gurevich 1992c, 41). — [4] smíðis Gusis ‘Gusir’s handiwork’: The word smíðis n. ‘handiwork, work of smith-craft, artefact’ is in the gen. sg. (see Note to l. 3; the B variant smíði is incorrect). This is the collective name of the three arrows (see Notes to sts 1/4, 1/6, 2/2) feathered with gold which flew of their own accord from the bowstring and back again, also called nautar Gusis ‘Gusir’s gifts, Gusir’s belongings’ (cf. the C variant nauta gen. pl.) because they were owned by Gusir, the legendary king of the Saami (see Ǫrvar-Odds saga ch. 4, FSN II, 173; for nautr, see Note to Þul Sverða 11/2). — [5] smíði Jólfs ‘Jólfr’s handiwork’: The name of three legendary stone arrows (steinǫrvar) presented to Ǫrvar-Odd by Jólfr (i.e. Óðinn in disguise; see Ǫrvar-Odds saga ch. 24, FSN II, 260 as well as ǪrvOdd Lv 29/3VIII and 30/2VIII (Ǫrv 65, 67)). — [6] þura (f.) ‘whizzer’: This heiti is a hap. leg. related to the weak verb þyrja ‘sweep, rush along noisily’ (attested only in poetry; see Falk 1914b, 99 and SnE 1998, II, 437).
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.