Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Þul Kvenna II 1III

Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Kvenna heiti ókend 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. 960.

Anonymous ÞulurKvenna heiti ókend
12

Þessi ‘these’

(not checked:)
1. sjá (pron.; °gen. þessa dat. þessum/þeima, acc. þenna; f. sjá/þessi; n. þetta, dat. þessu/þvísa; pl. þessir): this

notes

[1-2] skal kenna þessi heiti kellu ‘one must qualify these names for woman’: The sense of kenna (kenna við or til) in poetics is ‘call something or someone after something or someone else’ (Clunies Ross 1987, 51). This technical meaning is probably implied here; i.e. that each of the ókend heiti listed below must be supplied with a determinant to form a periphrastic phrase, a kenning (cf. kent heiti = kenning in Snorri’s definition of the latter in Skm; see SnE 1998, I, 5, II, 334). Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 903) calls attention to the fact that the anonymous compiler of the þula adopted the stylistically inferior kella f. (from kerling ‘old woman’, see Þul Kvenna I l. 8 and Note there) rather than a common neutral word for ‘woman’ (e.g. kona) in the introductory line of the first stanza. The low style, he believes, could have been intended to emphasise the difference in value between the poetic terms for ‘woman’ called Kvenna heiti and the half-finished terms ókend heiti, which were used merely as base-words in woman-kennings. Kock (NN §1904C, D), on the other hand, argues that the ókend heiti listed in this þula are so-called half-kennings, i.e. kenning base-words which, owing to their frequent appearance in this type of poetic circumlocution, could be used in skaldic verse without their determinants. He maintains that kenna in this context means ‘tell, list, enumerate’ and that the verb is used in the same sense as segja ‘say’ or telja ‘tell, count’ in other catalogues of heiti.

Close

skal ‘One must’

(not checked:)
skulu (verb): shall, should, must

notes

[1-2] skal kenna þessi heiti kellu ‘one must qualify these names for woman’: The sense of kenna (kenna við or til) in poetics is ‘call something or someone after something or someone else’ (Clunies Ross 1987, 51). This technical meaning is probably implied here; i.e. that each of the ókend heiti listed below must be supplied with a determinant to form a periphrastic phrase, a kenning (cf. kent heiti = kenning in Snorri’s definition of the latter in Skm; see SnE 1998, I, 5, II, 334). Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 903) calls attention to the fact that the anonymous compiler of the þula adopted the stylistically inferior kella f. (from kerling ‘old woman’, see Þul Kvenna I l. 8 and Note there) rather than a common neutral word for ‘woman’ (e.g. kona) in the introductory line of the first stanza. The low style, he believes, could have been intended to emphasise the difference in value between the poetic terms for ‘woman’ called Kvenna heiti and the half-finished terms ókend heiti, which were used merely as base-words in woman-kennings. Kock (NN §1904C, D), on the other hand, argues that the ókend heiti listed in this þula are so-called half-kennings, i.e. kenning base-words which, owing to their frequent appearance in this type of poetic circumlocution, could be used in skaldic verse without their determinants. He maintains that kenna in this context means ‘tell, list, enumerate’ and that the verb is used in the same sense as segja ‘say’ or telja ‘tell, count’ in other catalogues of heiti.

Close

kenna ‘qualify’

(not checked:)
kenna (verb): know, teach

notes

[1-2] skal kenna þessi heiti kellu ‘one must qualify these names for woman’: The sense of kenna (kenna við or til) in poetics is ‘call something or someone after something or someone else’ (Clunies Ross 1987, 51). This technical meaning is probably implied here; i.e. that each of the ókend heiti listed below must be supplied with a determinant to form a periphrastic phrase, a kenning (cf. kent heiti = kenning in Snorri’s definition of the latter in Skm; see SnE 1998, I, 5, II, 334). Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 903) calls attention to the fact that the anonymous compiler of the þula adopted the stylistically inferior kella f. (from kerling ‘old woman’, see Þul Kvenna I l. 8 and Note there) rather than a common neutral word for ‘woman’ (e.g. kona) in the introductory line of the first stanza. The low style, he believes, could have been intended to emphasise the difference in value between the poetic terms for ‘woman’ called Kvenna heiti and the half-finished terms ókend heiti, which were used merely as base-words in woman-kennings. Kock (NN §1904C, D), on the other hand, argues that the ókend heiti listed in this þula are so-called half-kennings, i.e. kenning base-words which, owing to their frequent appearance in this type of poetic circumlocution, could be used in skaldic verse without their determinants. He maintains that kenna in this context means ‘tell, list, enumerate’ and that the verb is used in the same sense as segja ‘say’ or telja ‘tell, count’ in other catalogues of heiti.

Close

kellu ‘for woman’

(not checked:)
kerla (noun f.; °-u): °kone, kælling

notes

[1-2] skal kenna þessi heiti kellu ‘one must qualify these names for woman’: The sense of kenna (kenna við or til) in poetics is ‘call something or someone after something or someone else’ (Clunies Ross 1987, 51). This technical meaning is probably implied here; i.e. that each of the ókend heiti listed below must be supplied with a determinant to form a periphrastic phrase, a kenning (cf. kent heiti = kenning in Snorri’s definition of the latter in Skm; see SnE 1998, I, 5, II, 334). Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 903) calls attention to the fact that the anonymous compiler of the þula adopted the stylistically inferior kella f. (from kerling ‘old woman’, see Þul Kvenna I l. 8 and Note there) rather than a common neutral word for ‘woman’ (e.g. kona) in the introductory line of the first stanza. The low style, he believes, could have been intended to emphasise the difference in value between the poetic terms for ‘woman’ called Kvenna heiti and the half-finished terms ókend heiti, which were used merely as base-words in woman-kennings. Kock (NN §1904C, D), on the other hand, argues that the ókend heiti listed in this þula are so-called half-kennings, i.e. kenning base-words which, owing to their frequent appearance in this type of poetic circumlocution, could be used in skaldic verse without their determinants. He maintains that kenna in this context means ‘tell, list, enumerate’ and that the verb is used in the same sense as segja ‘say’ or telja ‘tell, count’ in other catalogues of heiti.

Close

heiti ‘names’

(not checked:)
heiti (noun n.): name, promise

notes

[1-2] skal kenna þessi heiti kellu ‘one must qualify these names for woman’: The sense of kenna (kenna við or til) in poetics is ‘call something or someone after something or someone else’ (Clunies Ross 1987, 51). This technical meaning is probably implied here; i.e. that each of the ókend heiti listed below must be supplied with a determinant to form a periphrastic phrase, a kenning (cf. kent heiti = kenning in Snorri’s definition of the latter in Skm; see SnE 1998, I, 5, II, 334). Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 903) calls attention to the fact that the anonymous compiler of the þula adopted the stylistically inferior kella f. (from kerling ‘old woman’, see Þul Kvenna I l. 8 and Note there) rather than a common neutral word for ‘woman’ (e.g. kona) in the introductory line of the first stanza. The low style, he believes, could have been intended to emphasise the difference in value between the poetic terms for ‘woman’ called Kvenna heiti and the half-finished terms ókend heiti, which were used merely as base-words in woman-kennings. Kock (NN §1904C, D), on the other hand, argues that the ókend heiti listed in this þula are so-called half-kennings, i.e. kenning base-words which, owing to their frequent appearance in this type of poetic circumlocution, could be used in skaldic verse without their determinants. He maintains that kenna in this context means ‘tell, list, enumerate’ and that the verb is used in the same sense as segja ‘say’ or telja ‘tell, count’ in other catalogues of heiti.

Close

Sága ‘Sága’

(not checked:)
Sága (noun f.): [Sága, for Sága]

notes

[3] Sága: See Note to Þul Ásynja 2/3.

Close

Sigyn ‘Sigyn’

(not checked:)
Sigyn (noun f.): Sigyn

notes

[3] Sigyn: The line is too short, and it is possible that the name ought to be rendered in its more archaic form Sigvin. See Note to Þul Ásynja 2/4 and Introduction above.

Close

Sif ‘Sif’

(not checked:)
2. Sif (noun f.): Sif

notes

[4] Sif: The wife of Þórr, whose name means ‘affinity’; cf. sifjar (f. pl.) ‘kinsmen, relations by marriage’ (cf. also Hárb 48/1, Hym 3/5, 15/5, 34/6, Lok prose and Þry 24/9). In the Prologue to SnE, Sif (= Sibil) is said to be the most beautiful of all women, whose hair resembled gold (SnE 2005, 5; see also p. 26 and Skm, SnE 1998, I, 14, 20, 30, 35, 40-2). According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 41-2), Loki cut off Sif’s hair and was compelled by Þórr to make dwarfs fashion a wig of gold for her, which grew like normal hair. The name of this goddess frequently occurs in kennings for ‘woman’, but it is not mentioned in Þul Ásynja (see Introduction).

Close

Þrúðr ‘Þrúðr’

(not checked:)
Þrúðr (noun f.): Þrúðr

notes

[4] Þrúðr: See Note to Þul Ásynja 2/7. This name is found both as a base-word in kennings for ‘woman’ and as a half-kenning in VíglÞ Lv 3/3V (Vígl 5). Other kvenna heiti ókend listed in this þula are also used in a similar way in the stanzas of VíglÞ (see Notes to st. 3/1-4 below).

Close

Iðunn ‘Iðunn’

(not checked:)
Iðunn (noun f.)

notes

[4] Iðunn: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/7 and Introduction above.

Close

Frigg ‘Frigg’

(not checked:)
Frigg (noun f.): Frigg

notes

[5] Frigg: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/3.

Close

ok ‘and’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

Close

Bestla ‘Bestla’

(not checked:)
Bestla (noun f.): Bestla

notes

[5] Bestla: This is a giantess, Óðinn’s mother and daughter of the giant Bǫlþorr (or Bǫlþorn) (cf. Hávm 140/3; Gylf, SnE 2005, 11). The meaning of Bestla is unclear, perhaps ‘wife’ (see the discussion in AEW: Bestla). The name Bestla is found in skaldic verse (LP: Bestla), but it is not attested in kennings for ‘woman’. In the rímur the name is used as a heiti for ‘troll-woman’ and appears in kennings for ‘wolf’ and ‘mind’ (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: Bestla).

Close

Fulla ‘Fulla’

(not checked:)
Fulla (noun f.): Fulla

notes

[6] Fulla: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/4.

Close

ok ‘and’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

Close

Nanna ‘Nanna’

(not checked:)
Nanna (noun f.): Nanna

notes

[6] Nanna: See Note to Þul Ásynja 2/1.

Close

Gefjun ‘Gefjun’

(not checked:)
Gefjun (noun f.): Gefjun

notes

[7] Gefjun: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/5. — [7] Gefjun ok Hǫrn ‘Gefjun and Hǫrn’: Spelled ‘gefivn hora’ in the ms. The conjunction ok ‘and’ has been added for metrical reasons in keeping with earlier eds. The word ‘hora’ (normalised hóra ‘whore’) is most likely to be a scribal error. Although hóra ‘whore’ is a term for ‘woman’, the word is not appropriate in the context of a þula that enumerates base-words in kennings for ‘woman’. The emendation Hǫrn, a name for Freyja (see Þul Ásynja 3/4), was suggested by Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 898) and accepted by all subsequent eds (cf. SnE 1848-87, II, 489 n. 3).

Close

Gefjun ‘Gefjun’

(not checked:)
Gefjun (noun f.): Gefjun

notes

[7] Gefjun: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/5. — [7] Gefjun ok Hǫrn ‘Gefjun and Hǫrn’: Spelled ‘gefivn hora’ in the ms. The conjunction ok ‘and’ has been added for metrical reasons in keeping with earlier eds. The word ‘hora’ (normalised hóra ‘whore’) is most likely to be a scribal error. Although hóra ‘whore’ is a term for ‘woman’, the word is not appropriate in the context of a þula that enumerates base-words in kennings for ‘woman’. The emendation Hǫrn, a name for Freyja (see Þul Ásynja 3/4), was suggested by Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 898) and accepted by all subsequent eds (cf. SnE 1848-87, II, 489 n. 3).

Close

ok ‘and’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

[7] ok Hǫrn: ‘hora’ A

notes

[7] Gefjun ok Hǫrn ‘Gefjun and Hǫrn’: Spelled ‘gefivn hora’ in the ms. The conjunction ok ‘and’ has been added for metrical reasons in keeping with earlier eds. The word ‘hora’ (normalised hóra ‘whore’) is most likely to be a scribal error. Although hóra ‘whore’ is a term for ‘woman’, the word is not appropriate in the context of a þula that enumerates base-words in kennings for ‘woman’. The emendation Hǫrn, a name for Freyja (see Þul Ásynja 3/4), was suggested by Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 898) and accepted by all subsequent eds (cf. SnE 1848-87, II, 489 n. 3).

Close

Hǫrn ‘Hǫrn’

(not checked:)
2. Hǫrn (noun f.): [Hörn, Hǫrn]

[7] ok Hǫrn: ‘hora’ A

notes

[7] Gefjun ok Hǫrn ‘Gefjun and Hǫrn’: Spelled ‘gefivn hora’ in the ms. The conjunction ok ‘and’ has been added for metrical reasons in keeping with earlier eds. The word ‘hora’ (normalised hóra ‘whore’) is most likely to be a scribal error. Although hóra ‘whore’ is a term for ‘woman’, the word is not appropriate in the context of a þula that enumerates base-words in kennings for ‘woman’. The emendation Hǫrn, a name for Freyja (see Þul Ásynja 3/4), was suggested by Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 898) and accepted by all subsequent eds (cf. SnE 1848-87, II, 489 n. 3).

Close

Gerðr ‘Gerðr’

(not checked:)
Gerðr (noun f.): Gerðr

notes

[8] Gerðr: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/5.

Close

ok ‘and’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

Close

Laufey ‘Laufey’

(not checked:)
Laufey (noun f.)

notes

[8] Laufey: See Introduction above. Laufey, otherwise called Nál (lit. ‘needle’), is Loki’s mother (see Lok 52/2, Þry 18/2, 20/2, Gylf, SnE 2005, 26, 35, 45 and Skm, SnE 1998, I, 19, etc.). The meaning of the name of this goddess is uncertain, possibly < *lauf-awiaz ‘leaf-rich’ (for other suggested etymologies, see AEW: Laufey).

Close

Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.