Þul Hrafns 1III
Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hrafns 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. 945.
Hrafn ‘Raven’
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hrafn (noun m.; °hrafns; dat. hrafni; hrafnar): raven
[1] Hrafn: ‘[…]rafn’ B, Hrafn 744ˣ
holdbori ‘flesh-borer’
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holdbori (noun m.): [flesh-borer]
Huginn ‘Huginn’
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1. Huginn (noun m.): Huginn
notes
[2] óværi (m.) ‘restless one’: In this form the name probably means either ‘restless one’ or ‘unfriendly one’ (formed from the negative prefix ó- and the adj. værr ‘peaceful, tranquil’). However, since [e] is normally rendered as <æ> in ms. A, the actual form of this heiti may well be óveri (so B). In this case the word could be connected with the weak verb verja ‘defend’, but the meaning of óveri is unclear. The LaufE mss have óvari ‘incautious one’ here.
blæingr ‘black one’
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blæingr (noun m.): [black one]
[3] blæingr: ‘bl[…]gr’ B, ‘blẹ᷎ịngr’ 744ˣ
liti ‘sharp-seeing one’
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liti (noun m.): [sharp-seeing one]
notes
[3] liti (m.) ‘sharp-seeing one’: Or perhaps ‘watchful one’ (an agent noun from the strong verb líta ‘look’, cf. lítask um ‘look about’; see ÍO: liti).
borginmóði ‘borginmóði’
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borginmóði (noun m.): ?raven
notes
[4] borginmóði: This is a poetic name for ‘raven’, which may be interpreted as ‘one saved by one’s mood’ (so LP: borginmóði), from the p. p. of the strong verb bjarga ‘save, help’ and móðr m. ‘mood, wrath’ (cf. the adj. borginorðr ‘cautious in words, reserved’). Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 249) suggests ‘one secure in mood, haughty, self-confident one’.
hornklofi ‘horn-splitter’
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hornklofi (noun m.): [horn-splitter]
notes
[5] hornklofi (m.) ‘horn-splitter’: If horn n. ‘horn’ in this cpd is used as a metaphor for ‘beak’, this heiti could also be interpreted as ‘one splitting with the beak’ (the second element is derived from the strong verb kljúfa ‘cleave, split’). The word is not found in poetry as a raven-heiti, but it is the nickname of the skald Þorbjǫrn (Þhorn) (see Fidjestøl 1997b, 147).
viti ‘wise one’
notes
[5] viti (m.) ‘wise one’: Or possibly ‘prophetic one’ (cf. the pret. pres. verb vita ‘know’, the adj. vitr ‘wise’, as well as the fire-heiti viti m. ‘beacon’, Þul Elds 2/5; see ÍO: viti).
klóakan ‘sharp-clawed one’
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klóakan (noun n.): [sharp-clawed one]
[6] klóakan: ‘kíala[…]n’ B, ‘kíalakan’ 744ˣ
notes
[6] klóakan ‘sharp-clawed one’: This raven-heiti is an obscure word, perhaps derived from kló f. ‘claw’ and the bird-name kárn (for the latter, see Þul Fugla 4/1 and Note there and ÍO: klóakan). The B (744ˣ) variant ‘kíalakan’ is also difficult to make sense of (cf. Óðinn’s name Kjalarr, Þul Óðins 1/5). The LaufE mss have (normalised) kjólakan here, which could be construed as kjóla-, gen. pl. of kjóll m. ‘barge’ (see Þul Skipa 2/7), and ‑kan (= kárn, see above). Kjólakan would then mean ‘barges’ bird’, and the term could refer to ravens circling above ships (see also Note to kjalarfugl, Þul Fugla 4/1). The form kjólakan is also preferable from a metrical point view, but because the word is not present in this form in either A or B, it is not emended here.
krákr ‘crow’
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krákr (noun m.; °-s): [crow, Krák(?)]
drúkr ‘drúkr’
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drukr (noun m.): [drúkr]
Muninn ‘Muninn’
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Muninn (noun m.): Muninn
notes
[7] Muninn: One of Óðinn’s ravens (from the pret. pres. verb muna ‘remember’, munr m. ‘mind’, cf. Huginn in l. 2 above) used as a poetic term for ‘raven’. The heiti is also a dwarf-name (Þul Dverga 1/3).
corvus ‘corvus’
[8] corvus: ‘kormíss‑’ B
notes
[8] corvus: A foreign word (= Lat. corvus ‘raven’) not attested in other Old Norse texts and not included in LaufE.
geri ‘greedy one’
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Geri (noun m.): Geri
notes
[8] geri (m.) ‘greedy one’: One of Óðinn’s wolves and a heiti for ‘wolf’ in general (see Þul Vargs 1/1). Geri appears to have been transferred to Þul Hrafns owing to its characterising meaning (‘greedy’), since this word never occurs as a raven-heiti in poetic sources (on the polysemy of mythical names in the þulur, see Gurevich 1992c, 44-6). It is not included in LaufE.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Many heiti listed in this stanza are not attested elsewhere, namely, holdbori m. ‘flesh-borer’ (l. 1), óværi m. ‘restless one’ (l. 2), blæingr m. ‘black one’, liti m. ‘sharp-seeing one (l. 3), viti m. ‘wise one’ (l. 5), klóakan ‘sharp-clawed one’ (l. 6) and drúkr (l. 7). — [5-6]: This long-line is metrically defective and a word must be missing either from the first or the second half-line. Neither ms. has a lacuna here, which indicates that the word was left out in the A, B exemplar. The LaufE mss have an additional heiti that is not recorded in the present þula, namely vari ‘cautious, attentive, watchful one’ (see Notes to óværi ‘restless one’ l. 2 above and to Andvari, Þul Dverga 3/3), which is not otherwise attested in poetry as a heiti for ‘raven’. If we assume that vari was originally included in the þula, it must have preceded hornklofi ‘horn-splitter’ (l. 5), and ll. 5-6 would be reconstructed as follows (as a Type D- plus a Type D4-line if the last word is emended; see Note to l. 6 below): vari, hornklofi, | viti, klóakan ‘cautious one, horn-splitter, wise one, sharp-clawed one’.
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