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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Þul Skjaldar 1III

Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Skjaldar 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. 823.

Anonymous ÞulurSkjaldar heiti
12

Skjǫldr ‘Shield’

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skjǫldr (noun m.; °skjaldar/skildar, dat. skildi; skildir, acc. skjǫldu): shield

[1] Skjǫldr: ‘[…]kio᷎lldr’ B, ‘Skio᷎ldr’ 744ˣ

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þrungin ‘crowded’

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þrøngva (verb): press, throng < þrunginsalr (noun m.)

[1] þrungin‑: ‘þrungil‑’ C, þrunginn‑ A, ‘þrung[…]’ B, þrungin‑ 744ˣ

notes

[1] þrunginsalr (m.) ‘crowded hall’: A cpd not attested elsewhere, where the first element is derived from þrunginn, p. p. of the strong verb þryngva ‘crowd, fill up, force, oppress’, and the second element is salr m. ‘hall’. According to Falk (1914b, 126 n. 5), the heiti þrunginsalr refers to a skjaldborg ‘shield-wall’, a traditional battle formation, and hence should be interpreted as a half-kenning that requires a determinant, namely, one of Óðinn’s names. Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, this heiti could be a metonomic reference to the custom of warriors leaving their shields against the wall of a hall when on a friendly visit. See also Note to salbendingr, l. 2 below.

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salr ‘hall’

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1. salr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; dat. sǫlum): hall < þrunginsalr (noun m.)

notes

[1] þrunginsalr (m.) ‘crowded hall’: A cpd not attested elsewhere, where the first element is derived from þrunginn, p. p. of the strong verb þryngva ‘crowd, fill up, force, oppress’, and the second element is salr m. ‘hall’. According to Falk (1914b, 126 n. 5), the heiti þrunginsalr refers to a skjaldborg ‘shield-wall’, a traditional battle formation, and hence should be interpreted as a half-kenning that requires a determinant, namely, one of Óðinn’s names. Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, this heiti could be a metonomic reference to the custom of warriors leaving their shields against the wall of a hall when on a friendly visit. See also Note to salbendingr, l. 2 below.

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skaunnskaunn

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skaunn (noun m.)

[2] skaunn: skaun C, A, 744ˣ, ‘sk[…]n’ B

notes

[2] skaunn (m.): Or skaun f. (so C, A, B). A poetic term for ‘shield’, found only in Eil Þdr 10/2. The origin of this heiti is obscure and disputed (see Falk 1914b, 139; 1912, 104-6; LP: skaunn; ÍO: skaunn, skaun; AEW: skaun).

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salbendingr ‘hall-rounder’

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salbendingr (noun m.)

[2] salbendingr: ‘falbendingr’ C, ‘sa[…]benn […]’ B, ‘sanbenndingr’ 744ˣ

notes

[2] salbendingr (m.) ‘hall-rounder’: The first element of the cpd is salr m. ‘hall’ and the second is most likely a derivation of the weak verb benda ‘bend’, probably with a passive meaning (-bendingr ‘bent one’, perhaps referring to the shield-boss and used as pars pro toto for ‘shield’). According to Meissner 9, this heiti refers to shields placed around the walls inside ancient halls (cf. also SnE 1998, II, 381). See also þrunginsalr in l. 1 above. This heiti is not attested elsewhere.

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bugnir ‘bender’

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bugnir (noun m.)

[3] bugnir: so all others, bognir R

notes

[3] bugnir (m.) ‘bender’: A heiti related to the noun bugr m. ‘bend, curve’ (cf. the previous heiti). This word does not occur elsewhere in skaldic poetry, but it is used in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: bugnir).

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hlé ‘lee’

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hlé (noun n.): [lee] < 2. hlébarðr (noun m.): bear

[3] hlé‑: so Tˣ, C, B, hlæ‑ R, A

notes

[3] hlébarðr (m.) ‘lee-edge’: Either from hlé n. ‘protection’ and barð n. ‘edge’ (cf. barði ‘bordered one’, st. 2/7; so AEW: hlébarðr 2; LP: hlébarðr 2) or, as Falk (1914b, 146) maintains, from hlébarðr ‘leopard’. If so, this would be a shield decorated with an image of a leopard or another animal (in other þulur this word is listed among the heiti for ‘bear’ and ‘wolf’; see Þul Bjarnar 1/6 and Þul Vargs 1/6 as well as Note to Arn Hryn 2/1II). Hlébarðr is also a giant in Hárb 20/5.

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barðr ‘edge’

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1. -barðr (adj.) < 2. hlébarðr (noun m.): bear

notes

[3] hlébarðr (m.) ‘lee-edge’: Either from hlé n. ‘protection’ and barð n. ‘edge’ (cf. barði ‘bordered one’, st. 2/7; so AEW: hlébarðr 2; LP: hlébarðr 2) or, as Falk (1914b, 146) maintains, from hlébarðr ‘leopard’. If so, this would be a shield decorated with an image of a leopard or another animal (in other þulur this word is listed among the heiti for ‘bear’ and ‘wolf’; see Þul Bjarnar 1/6 and Þul Vargs 1/6 as well as Note to Arn Hryn 2/1II). Hlébarðr is also a giant in Hárb 20/5.

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ok ‘and’

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

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buklari ‘buckler’

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buklari (noun m.; °; -ar): °buckler, small round shield with a boss in the centre

notes

[4] buklari (m.) ‘buckler’: A small round shield with a bukl ‘shield-boss’ (Falk 1914b, 133-5), used here as pars pro toto for ‘shield’. The heiti is a loanword (< MLG bokeler, MHG buckelære < OFr. bouclier ‘shield with a boss’) that first appears in Iceland in the C13th but does not otherwise occur in skaldic poetry.

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véttlimi ‘battle-broom’

[5] véttlimi: ‘v[…]tliði’ C, ‘[…]ttlime’ B, ‘ríettlime’ 744ˣ

notes

[5] véttlimi (m.) ‘battle-broom’: This cpd, which is not attested elsewhere, is formed from vétt- ‘battle’ (cf. véttrim ‘battle-rim’, Þul Sverða 11/3) and ‑limi ‘broom’ or ‘rod of twigs’ (or ‑lími ‘broom’; see Falk 1914b, 138). Falk (1914b, 137-8, followed by SnE 1998, II, 426) takes this heiti to mean ‘battle-bundle’, and suggests that véttlimi may refer to a wicker shield made of rods.

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targa ‘targe’

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targa (noun f.; °*-u; *-ur): shield

[5] targa: ‘targ[…]’ B, targa 744ˣ

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veðrglaðr ‘wind-bright one’

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veðrglaðr (adj.)

[6] veðrglaðr: ‘[…] glaðr’ B, veðr glaðr 744ˣ

notes

[6] veðrglaðr (m.) ‘wind-bright one’: A hap. leg. from veðr n. ‘weather, wind, air, storm’ and the adj. glaðr ‘bright, glad’. It is possible that veðr, which is a common base-word in battle-kennings, could have been taken as a half-kenning for ‘battle’, and that the shield-kenning would translate as ‘battle-bright one’.

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ok ‘and’

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

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hlíf ‘protection’

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hlíf (noun f.; °-ar; -ar): shield, defence

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víðbleiknir ‘wide-pale one’

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víðbleiknir (noun m.)

notes

[7] víðbleiknir (m.) ‘wide-pale one’: A cpd not attested elsewhere, whose first element is the adj. víðr ‘wide’. The second element is probably derived from the adj. bleikr ‘pale’ with the suffix ‑nir. According to Falk (1914b, 148), the correct form is víðbliknir (from the weak verb blika ‘gleam’) ‘wide-shiner’, but that reading is not supported by the ms. witnesses.

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rít ‘engraved one’

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rít (noun f.): shield

notes

[7] rít (f.) ‘engraved one’: A poetic word for ‘shield’, derived from the strong verb ríta ‘cut, write’ and originally a term for a shield decorated with carvings (Falk 1914b, 138-9). See Bragi Rdr and Þjóð Haustl. Cf. such similar poetic terms for ‘shield’ as grafningr and grafnir (lit. ‘engraved’; LP: grafningr).

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vígglaðr ‘battle-bright one’

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vígglaðr (noun m.)

notes

[8] vígglaðr (m.) ‘battle-bright one’: A cpd not found elsewhere in skaldic poetry as a heiti for ‘shield’, from víg n. ‘fight, battle’ and the adj. glaðr (see also veðrglaðr ‘wind-bright one’, l. 6 above). The f. form vígglǫð is listed among the heiti for ‘axe’ (Þul Øxar l. 8) and ‘troll-woman’ (Þul Trollkvenna 5/5), and the m. form occurs in the rímur in a kenning for ‘battle’ (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: vígglaðr).

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ok ‘and’

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

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lind ‘linden’

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1. lind (noun f.): linden-shield, linden tree

notes

[8] lind (f.) ‘linden’: From lind ‘linden, lime-tree’. In poetry this could refer either to a shield or to a spear made of linden wood (see Notes to SnSt Ht 9/2 and 10/3). Lind is also a poetic term for ‘shield’ in Old English (e.g. Beowulf l. 2337) and Old High German (lintun pl., Hildebrandslied l. 67).

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