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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Bragi Þórr 5^III

Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Þórr’s fishing 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. 51.

Bragi inn gamli Boddason Þórr’s fishing

Þás ‘When’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

forns ‘of ancient’

(not checked:)
forn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): ancient, old

[1] forns: ‘fons’ Tˣ

kennings

fangboða flotna forns Litar.
‘of the wrestling-challenger of the followers of ancient Litr.’
= Þórr
the followers of ancient Litr. → GIANTS
the wrestling-challenger of GIANTS → Þórr

forns ‘of ancient’

(not checked:)
forn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): ancient, old

[1] forns: ‘fons’ Tˣ

kennings

fangboða flotna forns Litar.
‘of the wrestling-challenger of the followers of ancient Litr.’
= Þórr
the followers of ancient Litr. → GIANTS
the wrestling-challenger of GIANTS → Þórr

Litar ‘Litr’

(not checked:)
Litr (noun m.)

kennings

fangboða flotna forns Litar.
‘of the wrestling-challenger of the followers of ancient Litr.’
= Þórr
the followers of ancient Litr. → GIANTS
the wrestling-challenger of GIANTS → Þórr

notes

[1] Litar ‘of Litr <giant>’: Litr is not named elsewhere as a giant, though the kenning type (cf. Meissner 256) makes his identity as a giant here almost certain. Litr appears as a dwarf-name in Vsp 12/4 and several other places (cf. SnE 1998, II, 489) and once as an ox-heiti (Þul Øxna 2/5). Litr was also the name of the dwarf that Þórr kicked into the fire at Baldr’s funeral (SnE 2005, 46). The common noun litr means ‘colour’, especially the colour of the sky at dawn or dusk.

Litar ‘Litr’

(not checked:)
Litr (noun m.)

kennings

fangboða flotna forns Litar.
‘of the wrestling-challenger of the followers of ancient Litr.’
= Þórr
the followers of ancient Litr. → GIANTS
the wrestling-challenger of GIANTS → Þórr

notes

[1] Litar ‘of Litr <giant>’: Litr is not named elsewhere as a giant, though the kenning type (cf. Meissner 256) makes his identity as a giant here almost certain. Litr appears as a dwarf-name in Vsp 12/4 and several other places (cf. SnE 1998, II, 489) and once as an ox-heiti (Þul Øxna 2/5). Litr was also the name of the dwarf that Þórr kicked into the fire at Baldr’s funeral (SnE 2005, 46). The common noun litr means ‘colour’, especially the colour of the sky at dawn or dusk.

flotna ‘of the followers’

(not checked:)
flotnar (noun m.): mariners

kennings

fangboða flotna forns Litar.
‘of the wrestling-challenger of the followers of ancient Litr.’
= Þórr
the followers of ancient Litr. → GIANTS
the wrestling-challenger of GIANTS → Þórr

flotna ‘of the followers’

(not checked:)
flotnar (noun m.): mariners

kennings

fangboða flotna forns Litar.
‘of the wrestling-challenger of the followers of ancient Litr.’
= Þórr
the followers of ancient Litr. → GIANTS
the wrestling-challenger of GIANTS → Þórr

á ‘on’

(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at

fangboða ‘of the wrestling-challenger’

(not checked:)
fangboði (noun m.): wrestling-challenger

kennings

fangboða flotna forns Litar.
‘of the wrestling-challenger of the followers of ancient Litr.’
= Þórr
the followers of ancient Litr. → GIANTS
the wrestling-challenger of GIANTS → Þórr

ǫngli ‘the fishing hook’

(not checked:)
ǫngull (noun m.): fishing hook

hrøkkvi ‘the coiling’

(not checked:)
hrøkkvir (noun m.): coiling, Hrøkkvir < hrøkkviáll (noun m.)

[3] hrøkkvi‑: ‘hrockui’ Tˣ

kennings

hrøkkviáll drekku Vǫlsunga
‘the coiling eel of the drink of the Vǫlsungar ’
= Miðgarðsormr
the drink of the Vǫlsungar → POISON
the coiling eel of the POISON → Miðgarðsormr

áll ‘eel’

(not checked:)
1. áll (noun m.; °dat. ál; álar): eel < hrøkkviáll (noun m.)

kennings

hrøkkviáll drekku Vǫlsunga
‘the coiling eel of the drink of the Vǫlsungar ’
= Miðgarðsormr
the drink of the Vǫlsungar → POISON
the coiling eel of the POISON → Miðgarðsormr

of ‘’

(not checked:)
4. of (particle): (before verb)

hrokkinn ‘coiled up’

(not checked:)
1. hrøkkva (verb): coil

[3] hrokkinn: so Tˣ, hrokkin R

hekk ‘hung’

(not checked:)
1. hanga (verb): hang

Vǫlsunga ‘of the Vǫlsungar’

(not checked:)
Vǫlsungr (noun m.; °; -ar): Vǫlsung

kennings

hrøkkviáll drekku Vǫlsunga
‘the coiling eel of the drink of the Vǫlsungar ’
= Miðgarðsormr
the drink of the Vǫlsungar → POISON
the coiling eel of the POISON → Miðgarðsormr

Vǫlsunga ‘of the Vǫlsungar’

(not checked:)
Vǫlsungr (noun m.; °; -ar): Vǫlsung

kennings

hrøkkviáll drekku Vǫlsunga
‘the coiling eel of the drink of the Vǫlsungar ’
= Miðgarðsormr
the drink of the Vǫlsungar → POISON
the coiling eel of the POISON → Miðgarðsormr

drekku ‘of the drink’

(not checked:)
1. drekka (noun f.; °-u): [drink, banquet]

kennings

hrøkkviáll drekku Vǫlsunga
‘the coiling eel of the drink of the Vǫlsungar ’
= Miðgarðsormr
the drink of the Vǫlsungar → POISON
the coiling eel of the POISON → Miðgarðsormr

drekku ‘of the drink’

(not checked:)
1. drekka (noun f.; °-u): [drink, banquet]

kennings

hrøkkviáll drekku Vǫlsunga
‘the coiling eel of the drink of the Vǫlsungar ’
= Miðgarðsormr
the drink of the Vǫlsungar → POISON
the coiling eel of the POISON → Miðgarðsormr

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

This helmingr is cited (immediately before Rdr 3-7) in a section of Skm that narrates a number of heroic stories concerning Sigurðr Fáfnisbani ‘Fáfnir’s slayer’ and his kin in order to explain the origin of various gold-kennings. At the point where this helmingr is cited, the narrative explains that Sigurðr’s father Sigmundr, son of Vǫlsungr, was so tough that he could drink poison without ill effect, thus providing the rationale for Bragi’s kenning drekka Vǫlsunga ‘drink of the Vǫlsungar’. The helmingr is introduced in R with the words Því hefir Bragi skáld svá kveðit ‘Therefore Bragi the poet has composed in this way’.

This helmingr is a dependent clause, obviously following another helmingr containing a main clause. — [3] hrøkkviáll … of hrokkinn ‘the coiling eel … coiled up’: Hrøkkvi- and of hrokkinn (p. p.) both derive from the verb hrøkkva ‘curl, move violently, coil’, producing a stylistic effect similar to what Snorri Sturluson identified in Ht (SnE 2007, 22) as iðurmælt ‘repeatedly spoken’ or dunhent ‘echoing-rhymed’.

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