Þul Skjaldar 3^III

Yrlygr ‘Battler’

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yrlygr (noun m.): [Fighter]

[1] Yrlygr: ørlygr C, ‘v[…]gr’ B, ‘valýgr’ 744ˣ

notes

[1] yrlygr (m.) ‘battler’: Or ørlygr (so C). The word is derived from the battle-heiti ørlygi (see Þul Orrostu 2/6), ‘one engaged in battle’. ON ørlygi ‘battle’ is probably derived from Gmc *uz-lugja, lit. ‘not legally binding’; cf. Goth liugan ‘marry, enter a legal agreement’ (Finnur Jónsson 1926, 211; AEW: ørlygi). The word is also listed in Þul Hauks 2/1 but not found elsewhere. According to Falk (1914b, 146), the shield-heiti yrlygr might have been derived from the term for ‘hawk’, denoting a shield decorated with the image of a hawk (cf. Þiðreks saga, Þiðr 1853, 189: á þeim skildi er markaðr með gulli haukr ‘on that shield there is a hawk drawn with gold’).

ok ‘and’

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

svarmr ‘tumult’

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svarmr (noun m.): [a swarm]

[1] svarmr: svarmi C

notes

[1] svarmr (m.) ‘tumult’: Probably the same as svarmr m. ‘tumult’. The heiti belongs to a ‘noise-maker type’ that is used in most of the þulur (cf. gjallr ‘clamouring one’, st. 2/1), but it is otherwise not attested as a heiti for ‘shield’.

eihlífnir ‘ever-protector’

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eihlífnir (noun m.)

[2] eihlífnir: eilifnir all

notes

[2] eihlífnir (m.) ‘ever-protector’: A cpd not attested elsewhere. It is generally assumed that the correct form of this word is eihlífnir or eyhlífnir (Falk 1914b, 139) and not eilífnir (lit. ‘ever-living one’ or ‘giver of eternal life’; see SnE 1998, II, 263) as in the mss. If so, the heiti is formed from the adv. ei (or ey) ‘ever’ and an agent noun derived from the weak verb hlífa ‘protect’. Cf. also hlíf ‘protection’ (st. 1/6), bǫðskýlir ‘war-shelterer’ (st. 2/4) and skuttingr ‘protector’ (st. 2/7).

heiðr ‘bright one’

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5. heiðr (noun m.): bright one

[2] heiðr: ‘he[…]’ B, ‘heiðr’ 744ˣ

notes

[2] heiðr (m.) ‘bright one’: A substantivised adj. (heiðr ‘bright’; cf. skírr ‘clear one’, st. 2/8), and not otherwise attested as a heiti for ‘shield’.

baugr ‘ring’

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baugr (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): ring

[3] baugr: baugi A, bogi B

notes

[3] baugr (m.) ‘ring’: Baugr ‘ring, circle’ is a heiti for ‘shield’ that is quite common in poetry. It refers to a painted circle on a round shield (around the shield-boss) and came to be used as pars pro toto for the shield itself. Cf. (SnE 1998, I, 67): Á fornum skjǫldum var títt at skrifa rǫnd þá er baugr var kallaðr, ok er við þann baug skildir kendir ‘On ancient shields it was customary to paint a circle, which was called the ring, and shields are referred to in terms of that ring’. Falk (1914b, 140-1), however, argues that the word denotes not a shield-rim but the protecting hand-guard at the center of the shield, but there is no evidence for that assumption.

fagrbláinn ‘fair-dark one’

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fagrblái (noun m.)

notes

[3] fagrbláinn (m.) ‘fair-dark one’: Possibly a tarred shield, cf. bláar, svartar randir ‘dark, black shields’ (Falk 1914b, 147; see also SnE 1998, II, 268). Alternatively, the word may be derived from the adj. fagrblár ‘fair-blue’ (so LP: fagrbláinn). The cpd is not attested elsewhere as a heiti for ‘shield’.

bera ‘she-bear’

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1. bera (noun f.; °-u): she-bear, shield

notes

[4] bera (f.) ‘she-bear’: As a shield-heiti, the word is known from the name of Egill’s shield poem Berudrápa (Egill Berdr^V (Eg 128)) and from Anon (SnE) 8/1: Baugr er á beru sœmstr ‘A ring is most seemly on a shield’. Bera also occurs once in the later rímur as a heiti for ‘shield’ (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: bera). Because it is not possible to arrive at a linguistically satisfactory derivation of this word from the strong verb bera ‘carry’ (pace AEW: bera 2), the heiti is most likely identical with bera f. ‘she-bear’, and could have been the name of a specific shield. Whether this name referred to a bear-image drawn on the shield (so Falk 1914b, 146) cannot be ascertained. Cf. yrlygr ‘battler’ in l. 1 above.

mið ‘mid’

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miðr (adj.): middle, less, hardly < miðfjǫrnir (noun m.)

notes

[4] miðfjǫrnir (m.) ‘mid-helmet’: So B. An otherwise unattested cpd from mið- ‘mid-’ and fjǫr n. ‘life’ or fjǫrnir ‘helmet’ (hence ‘mid-helmet’, i.e. ‘helmet protecting the middle of the body’). Falk (1914b, 152 n. 3) prefers the R, C variant miðfornir lit. ‘old in the middle’, possibly referring to a shield with an old shield-boss.

fjǫrnir ‘helmet’

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fjǫrnir (noun m.): helmet < miðfjǫrnir (noun m.)

[4] ‑fjǫrnir: so B, ‑fornir R, C, A, ‑fǫrnir Tˣ

notes

[4] miðfjǫrnir (m.) ‘mid-helmet’: So B. An otherwise unattested cpd from mið- ‘mid-’ and fjǫr n. ‘life’ or fjǫrnir ‘helmet’ (hence ‘mid-helmet’, i.e. ‘helmet protecting the middle of the body’). Falk (1914b, 152 n. 3) prefers the R, C variant miðfornir lit. ‘old in the middle’, possibly referring to a shield with an old shield-boss.