Þul Hesta 3^III

Vegbjartr, Hǫlkvir,         Vingskornir, Hrafn,
Alsviðr, alvarr,         Árvakr, Drasill,
Blakkr, bǫlþvari,         bráinn, hástigi,
Marr, Jór, bautuðr,         Mór, jǫrmuni.

Vegbjartr, Hǫlkvir, Vingskornir, Hrafn, Alsviðr, alvarr, Árvakr, Drasill, Blakkr, bǫlþvari, bráinn, hástigi, Marr, Jór, bautuðr, Mór, jǫrmuni.

Way-bright one, Hǫlkvir, Vingskornir, Hrafn, Alsviðr, all-cautious one, Árvakr, Drasill, Blakkr, evil-borer, flickering one, high-stepper, Marr, Jór, striker, Mór, mighty one.

Mss: A(20v), B(9v), 744ˣ(86v) (SnE)

Readings: [2] Vingskornir: ‘vígsk[…]’ B, ‘vígskornir’ 744ˣ;    Hrafn: so B, rafn A    [3] alvarr: ‘afarr’ B    [7] bautuðr: ‘b[…]utud[…]’ B, ‘bautudr’ 744ˣ    [8] Mór jǫrmuni: ‘[…]une’ B, ‘mor j́ormune’ or ‘nior j́ormune’ 744ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 685, Skj BI, 675-6, Skald I, 340; SnE 1848-87, II, 487, 571.

Notes: [1] vegbjartr (m.) ‘way-bright one’: An otherwise unattested cpd from vegr m. ‘way’ and the adj. bjartr ‘bright, clear’. — [1] Hǫlkvir: Lit. ‘one with an even pace’. See Note to Anon Kálfv 4/5. — [2] Vingskornir: This is Sigrdrífa’s horse in Fáfn 44/4. The meaning of the name is perhaps ‘land-ploughing one’ (from ving-, cf. vengi ‘land’, and ‑skornir, an agent noun from the strong verb skera ‘cut’; see LP: Vingskornir). Alternatively, the first element, ving-, could mean ‘swing, stagger’, thus expressing the notion of unsteady motion (so Kahle 1903, 171; AEW: vingr, Vingskornir). The name is otherwise not attested in skaldic verse. — [2] Hrafn: I.e. ‘raven’. See Notes to Anon Þorgþ I 1/1 and Anon Kálfv 3 [All]. — [3] Alsviðr: Lit. ‘all-swift one’ (the second element is the adj. sviðr, svinnr ‘swift, quick’). This is the name of a horse that pulls the Sun (see Grí 37/1-3 and SnE 1998, I, 90: Árvakr ok Alsviðr *draga sólina ‘Árvakr and Alsviðr pull the sun’). See also sts 1/1, 2/2, 4/8 and l. 4 below. The name is not found in skaldic verse. — [3] alvarr (m.) ‘all-cautious one’: The second element is the adj. varr ‘cautious, careful’. The B variant ‘afarr’ must be a scribal error. As a horse-heiti, the word is found only in the present þula. — [4] Árvakr: The heiti translates as ‘alert one’ or ‘one who is awake early’. This is the name of another horse belonging to the Sun (see Note to Alsviðr in l. 3, as well as Vakr, st. 2/5, and Anon Kálfv 2/4). Árvakr does not occur in skaldic verse, but the name is listed as an ox-heiti in Þul Øxna 1/3. — [4] Drasill: A commonly-used poetic word for ‘horse’ or ‘steed’. See Anon Kálfv 1/1. — [5] Blakkr: Lit. ‘black one’ or ‘dun-coloured one’. See Note to Anon Þorgþ I 2/3. — [5] bǫlþvari (m.) ‘evil-borer’: An otherwise unattested cpd from bǫl m. ‘bale, misfortune, evil’ and þvari m. ‘drill, gimlet’. It is possibly the proper name of a horse. — [6] bráinn (m.) ‘flickering one’: From the weak verb brjá ‘flicker’. The heiti is modelled on the semantic pattern ‘shining one’ frequently used in the þulur. This is also a heiti for ‘serpent’ (Þul Orma 4/1), but neither heiti is attested in other sources. — [6] hástigi (m.) ‘high-stepper’: From the adj. hár ‘high’ and the strong verb stíga. As a horse-heiti, the word occurs only in the present þula. Hástigi is also the name of a giant-like man in Hjálmþés saga (FSN III, 491, 495-7, 501-4) and a heiti for ‘giant’ (see Note to Þul Jǫtna I 2/2). — [7] Marr, Jór: Both words are poetic terms for ‘steed’, and they occur as proper names in Anon Þorgþ I 1/7, 2/6 (see Notes there). — [7] bautuðr (m.) ‘striker’: As a horse-heiti, the word occurs only here, but, like certain other heiti in this list (e.g. Árvakr and jǫrmuni ‘mighty one’, ll. 4, 8 of the present stanza), it is also mentioned in Þul Øxna (st. 1/9). Bautuðr is an agent noun derived from a weak verb *bauta ‘strike’ (from a strong verb bauta, of which only the p. p. bautinn survives). See also Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: bauta. — [8] Mór: Lit. ‘brown one’ (m.). As in Anon Þorgþ I 1/7 (see Note there), this name alliterates with Marr. — [8] jǫrmuni (m.) ‘mighty one’: Cf. jǫrmun- ‘great’ in various compounds and Óðinn’s name Jǫrmunr (see Note to Þul Óðins 8/1). As a horse-heiti, the word is attested only here, but it is also listed in Þul Øxna 2/7.

References

1. Bibliography
2. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
6. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Finnur Jónsson. 1926-8. Ordbog til de af samfund til udg. af gml. nord. litteratur udgivne Rímur samt til de af Dr. O. Jiriczek udgivne Bósarímur. SUGNL 51. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
8. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Kahle, Bernhard. 1903. ‘Altwestnordische Namenstudien’. IF 14, 133-224.
10. Internal references
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Kálfsvísa 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. 664.
14. 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.
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Kálfsvísa 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. 667.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Kálfsvísa 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 668.
17. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jǫtna heiti 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. 709.
18. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 8’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 751.
19. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Øxna 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. 885.
20. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Øxna 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. 887.
21. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Orma heiti 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 933.
22. Not published: do not cite ()
23. Not published: do not cite ()
24. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Øxna 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. 885. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3210> (accessed 19 April 2024)