Þul Hesta 2^III

Fákr, Léttfeti,         Fjǫrsvartnir, Valr,
fengr, Falhófnir,         fetmóðr ok Lungr,
Vakr, vígglitnir,         vindr, Tjaldari,
veðr, víðir, vigg         ok vegdraupnir.

Fákr, Léttfeti, Fjǫrsvartnir, Valr, fengr, Falhófnir, fetmóðr ok Lungr, Vakr, vígglitnir, vindr, Tjaldari, veðr, víðir, vigg ok vegdraupnir.

Fákr, Léttfeti, Fjǫrsvartnir, Valr, booty, Falhófnir, pace-tired one and Lungr, Vakr, war-glittering one, wind, Tjaldari, gust, wide one, steed and way-dripper.

Mss: A(20v), B(9v), 744ˣ(86v) (SnE)

Readings: [2] Fjǫrsvartnir Valr: ‘valr […] fio᷎rsuartnir’ B, ‘valr fio᷎rsuartnir’ 744ˣ    [3] Falhófnir: ‘falofnir’ A, B    [4] Lungr: hringr B    [5] vígglitnir: ‘viglitnir’ A, B    [6] Tjaldari: ‘tialld[…]’ B, ‘tialldare’ 744ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 685, Skj BI, 675, Skald I, 340, NN §2157A, D, E; SnE 1848-87, II, 487, 571.

Notes: [1] Fákr: Lit. ‘swift one’. See Note to Anon Þorgþ I 2/5. Fákr is a common poetic word for ‘horse’. — [1] Léttfeti: I.e. ‘light-pacer’. See Note to Anon Þorgþ I 1/3. — [2] Fjǫrsvartnir: Lit. ‘life-darkener’ (m.). One of the mythical horses that pull the Night. According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 90), Hrímfaxi eða Fjǫrsva<r>tnir draga nóttina ‘Hrímfaxi or Fjǫrsvartnir pull the night’. See also sts 1/1, 3/3, 4 and 4/8 and Notes there.  The second element of the cpd is an agent noun from the weak verb sortna ‘darken’ (cf. ModNorw. svartne, ModSwed. svartna ‘darken’). Kock (NN §2157D) suggests that the first element in this cpd (fjǫr-) means ‘breast’ rather than ‘life’, and that the name ought to be interpreted as ‘dark-breast’ (or ‘breast-darkener’). That interpretation, which is based on Ghv 17/8, is tenuous. The heiti does not otherwise occur in skaldic verse. — [2] Valr: See Note to Anon Þorgþ I 1/3. — [3] fengr (m.) ‘booty’: As a horse-heiti the word is not found elsewhere. See also Fengr in Þul Óðins 2/2 and Note there. — [3] Falhófnir: Lit. ‘one with pale hoofs’ or, possibly, ‘one with hidden hoofs’. See Note to Anon Þorgþ I 3/4. — [4] fetmóðr (m.) ‘pace-tired one’: From fet n. ‘pace, step’ and the adj. móðr ‘tired, weary’. This cpd is otherwise not attested in poetry. — [4] Lungr: Lit. ‘swift one’. See Note to Anon Þorgþ I 1/7. The B variant, hringr ‘ring’, is attested as a heiti for ‘serpent’, ‘ship’ and ‘sword’ but not as a heiti for ‘horse’. — [5] Vakr: Lit. ‘ alert, wakeful, lively one’. See Note to Anon Kálfv 2/4. — [5] vígglitnir (m.) ‘war-glittering one’: Not otherwise attested as a heiti for horse. Both mss have ‘viglitnir’ and the emendation follows earlier eds (Skj B; Skald; NN §2157E). Cf. glitnir ‘shining one’ (st. 1/3 above) and the boar-heiti valglitnir ‘slaughter-shiner’ (Þul Galtar l. 1). — [6] vindr (m.) ‘wind’: As a horse-heiti, vindr is not found elsewhere. The meaning is perhaps ‘swift as the wind’ (cf. veðr ‘gust’ in the next line). The word is also attested in the þulur as the name of a giant (see Þul Jǫtna I 5/7). — [6] Tjaldari: Lit. ‘ambler’. See Note to Anon Þorgþ I 1/4. — [7] veðr (n.) ‘gust’: This word does not occur as a horse-heiti in poetry, but cf. vindr ‘wind’ (l. 6 above). — [7] víðir (m.) ‘wide one’: Like the poetic term for ‘sea’ (see víðir, Þul Sjóvar 2/2), this word is perhaps derived from the adj. víðr ‘wide’, but the exact meaning is uncertain. It does not occur as a heiti for ‘horse’ other than in the present þula. — [7] vigg ‘steed’: See Note to Anon Þorgþ I 2/1. — [8] vegdraupnir (m.) ‘way-dripper’: An otherwise unattested cpd from vegr m. ‘way’ and a second element related to the strong verb drjúpa ‘drip’. The implied meaning of ‑draupnir as a part of a horse-heiti is unclear, but cf. Draupnir, the name of Óðinn’s magic ring and also of a dwarf (see Þul Dverga 3/4 and Note there).

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. 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.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
7. Internal references
8. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 19 April 2024)
9. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Þorgrímsþula I 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. 670.
10. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Þorgrímsþula I 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. 672.
11. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Þorgrímsþula I 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 674.
12. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Kálfsvísa 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. 666.
13. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jǫtna heiti I 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 715.
14. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Dverga heiti 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 697.
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 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. 735.
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sjóvar 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. 835.
17. Not published: do not cite ()
18. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Galtar heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 900. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3215> (accessed 19 April 2024)