Þul Hesta 4^III

Móinn ‘Brown one’

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Móinn (noun m.): Móinn

notes

[1] móinn (m.) ‘brown one’: The word is not found elsewhere as a horse-heiti. It could be derived from the adj. mór ‘brown’ (so LP: móinn; cf. Mór in st. 3/8 and see Note to Anon Þorgþ I 1/7). Alternatively, móinn has been derived from mór m. ‘moor, heath’ (hence, lit. ‘one that belongs to the heath’; so AEW: Móinn). If the latter explanation is correct, this horse-heiti may well originally be a term for ‘serpent’, transferred from a list of serpent-heiti (cf. Þul Orma 4/7 and Note there).

hestr ‘horse’

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hestr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): horse, stallion

fjǫtri ‘fettered one’

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Fjǫtri (noun m.)

notes

[1] fjǫtri (m.) ‘fettered one’: A hap. leg. (cf. fjǫturr m. ‘fetter’ and the weak verb fjǫtra ‘fetter’).

Móðnir ‘Móðnir’

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Móðnir (noun m.): [longing for]

notes

[2] Móðnir: Lit. ‘fierce one’. This is Dvalinn’s horse in Anon Kálfv 1/2 (see Note there), but the word is not attested elsewhere.

róni ‘gelding’

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róni (noun m.)

[2] róni: ‘ro[…]’ B, ‘roni’ 744ˣ

notes

[2] róni (m.) ‘gelding’: A hap. leg. The form and meaning of this heiti are obscure. Róni could be related to MLG rūne ‘gelding’ (adopted in this edn; see AEW: róni and cf. New Norw. rone, ModNorw. råne ‘boar’) or it could be a corrupt form of reini m. ‘stallion’ (ÍO: róni 1). Alternatively, the horse-heiti could possibly be connected with rúni m. ‘confidant’ (see Þul Manna 6/7).

alsvartr ‘all-black one’

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Alsvartr (noun m.): Alsvartr

notes

[3] alsvartr (m.) ‘all-black one’: As a horse-heiti the word does not occur elsewhere, but in eddic poetry the adj. alsvartr is an epithet for ‘ox’ (Þry 23/3 and Hym 18/8). Hence the heiti could have been confused with a heiti for ‘ox’ (the latter are sometimes recorded in the present þula, e.g. apli ‘foal’ l. 3 below; see also Note to st. 3/7 above). Alsvartr is also the name of a giant (Þul Jǫtna I 4/7).

apli ‘foal’

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apli (noun m.; °-a): apli

notes

[3] apli (m.) ‘foal’: As a horse-heiti the word is found only here. For the meaning ‘foal’, see Note to Anon Þorgþ II l. 5. Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 235) gives the translation ‘dapple’, but that interpretation is dubious (see AEW: apli). Apli is also a heiti for ‘ox’ (Þul Øxna 3/1, Anon Þorgþ II l. 5).

askr ‘ash-tree’

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askr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): ash, ash-tree, ash-ship

notes

[4] askr (m.) ‘ash-tree’: This horse-heiti is attested only in the present þula. The connection between ‘ash-tree’ and ‘steed’ is unclear, unless the horse-heiti refers to the mythical ash Yggdrasill, i.e. ‘Yggr’s <= Óðinn’s> horse’.

malfeti ‘gravel-pacer’

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málfeti (noun m.)

notes

[4] malfeti (m.) ‘gravel-pacer’: Or mál-. The form and the meaning of the first element of this otherwise unattested cpd are unclear. Kock (NN §1078A; Skald) argues that the first component in malfeti is mǫl f. ‘gravel’, thus the meaning of the heiti might be ‘one treading the gravel’ (adopted in the present edn). Finnur Jónsson (LP: malmfeti), emends to malmfeti lit. ‘iron-pacer’ (perhaps referring to a shoed horse), but the evidence he adduces in support of that emendation, Steinunn Lv 2/6^V, is inconclusive (the mss have the variants ‘malm-’ and ‘mal-’).

Blóðhófr ‘Blóðhófr’

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blóðhófr (noun m.)

notes

[5] Blóðhófr: Lit. ‘blood-hoof’ (m.). See Note to Blóðughófi in Anon Þorgþ I 3/1. Neither form appears elsewhere in poetry as heiti for ‘horse’.

Hamskarpr ‘Hamskarpr’

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Hamskarpr (noun m.)

notes

[5] Hamskarpr: This name translates as ‘skin-sharp one’ (or perhaps ‘one thin in the flank’, from hamr m. ‘skin, shape’ and the adj. skarpr ‘sharp’; CVC: hamskarpr). The cpd is not attested elsewhere but must be a variant of Hamskerpir, the name of a horse and the father of Hófvarpnir mentioned in l. 6 below (cf. SnE 2005, 30).

brúnn ‘black one’

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1. brúnn (noun m.; °brúns)

notes

[6] brúnn (m.) ‘black one’: As a horse-heiti, the word is not found in poetry, but the adj. brúnn usually denotes black horses. Brúnn is also the proper name of a black horse (see CVC: brúnn).

Hófvarpnir ‘Hófvarpnir’

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Hófvarpnir (noun m.)

notes

[6] Hófvarpnir: Lit. ‘hoof-thrower’, from húfr m. ‘hoof’ and a nomen actionis from the strong verb verpa ‘throw’. The mythical horse belonging to Frigg’s messenger Gná, which is said to gallop across the sky and the sea (rendered as Hófvarfnir in Gylf, SnE 2005, 30). The name does not occur in skaldic poetry.

viggr ‘steed’

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viggr (noun m.): horse

[7] viggr: vigr A, vígr B

notes

[7] viggr (m.) ‘steed’: See vigg in st. 2/7 above and Note to Anon Þorgþ I 2/1. Viggr, a later form of vigg, has been emended from vigr/vígr (A, B) (so Nj 1875-89, II, 397 n., Skj B and AEW: vigg, viggr; see also Gurevich 1992a, 21). Kock (NN §2157B; Skald) adopts vígr ‘warlike one’ or ‘swift one’ (from the adj. vígr ‘battle-ready’).

Skinfaxi ‘Skinfaxi’

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Skinfaxi (noun m.)

notes

[7] Skinfaxi: Already mentioned in st. 1/7.

virfill ‘virfill’

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Virfill (noun m.): Virfill

notes

[8] virfill (m.): An obscure word. According to ÍO: virfill 1, the original meaning could have been ‘flexible, supple one’, and the common noun virfill also means ‘rod’ and ‘phallus’ (AEW: Virfill). As a horse-heiti the word appears only in the present stanza, but Virfill is also the name of a sea-king (Þul Sækonunga 5/1).

Hrímfaxi ‘Hrímfaxi’

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Hrímfaxi (noun m.)

notes

[8] Hrímfaxi: Lit. ‘rime-maned one’ (m.); the first element is from hrím n. ‘rime’ and the second from fax n. ‘mane’. This is one of the mythical horses that pull the Night (see Note to st. 2/2 above). The name is otherwise not attested in skaldic poetry.