Bragi Þórr 6III
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Þórr’s fishing 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 52.
Vildit ‘did not want’
(not checked:)
vilja (verb): want, intend
vrǫngum ‘the twisted’
(not checked:)
rangr (adj.): wrong, false
[1] vrǫngum (‘vrꜷngvm’): so A, rǫngum R, ‘raungon’ Tˣ, ‘o ro᷎ngum’ B, vǫngum C
notes
[1] vrǫngum ‘twisted’: The spelling with initial <vr> is an archaism in Old Icelandic, [v] having been dropped in initial position before [r] in the preliterate period. However, it persisted in Old Norwegian and, as Bragi was a Norwegian, its presence here may be due to his ethnicity. See Fidjestøl (1999, 231-45) for a review of this phenomenon (especially 232 and n. 9), which Óláfr Þórðarson in TGT (TGT 1884, 87) termed vinðandin forna, the archaic use of the symbol venð <w>, cf. OE wenn, wynn.
ofra ‘to raise up’
(not checked:)
ofra (verb): raise up, exalt
kennings
Byrsendir vágs‘The wind-sender of the sea ’
= GIANT = Hymir
The wind-sender of the sea → GIANT = Hymir
notes
[2] byrsendir vágs ‘the wind-sender of the ocean [GIANT = Hymir]’: The hap. leg. cpd byrsendir ‘wind-sender’ is to be understood in connection with mythological associations between giants, like Hræsvelgr, and the generation of wind (cf. SnE 2005, 20). This reading was proposed by Kock (NN §2205F). On the associations between supernatural beings in Old Norse and the raising of wind, see Perkins (2001). Skj B (cf. LP: hyrsendir, vágr 2) adopts the variant reading hyrsendir ‘fire-sender’, construing it with vágs as a man-kenning ‘sender of the fire of the bay [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’, a rather inappropriate kenning for Hymir! Vágr means either the sea, especially when disturbed by wind (LP: vágr 1), or a bay (LP: vágr 2). It is also possible to construe vágs (l. 2) with vrǫngum œgi ‘twisted terrifier’ (ll. 1, 2) to produce a kenning for Miðgarðsormr vrǫngum œgi vágs ‘twisted terrifier of the ocean [= Miðgarðsormr]’.
byr ‘The wind’
(not checked:)
byrr (noun m.; °-jar/-s; -ir, acc. -i/-u(SigrVal 188¹³)): favourable wind < byrsendir (noun m.)
[2] byr‑: so Tˣ, C, byr‑ with b corrected in scribal hand from incipient h R, hyr‑ A, B
kennings
Byrsendir vágs‘The wind-sender of the sea ’
= GIANT = Hymir
The wind-sender of the sea → GIANT = Hymir
notes
[2] byrsendir vágs ‘the wind-sender of the ocean [GIANT = Hymir]’: The hap. leg. cpd byrsendir ‘wind-sender’ is to be understood in connection with mythological associations between giants, like Hræsvelgr, and the generation of wind (cf. SnE 2005, 20). This reading was proposed by Kock (NN §2205F). On the associations between supernatural beings in Old Norse and the raising of wind, see Perkins (2001). Skj B (cf. LP: hyrsendir, vágr 2) adopts the variant reading hyrsendir ‘fire-sender’, construing it with vágs as a man-kenning ‘sender of the fire of the bay [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’, a rather inappropriate kenning for Hymir! Vágr means either the sea, especially when disturbed by wind (LP: vágr 1), or a bay (LP: vágr 2). It is also possible to construe vágs (l. 2) with vrǫngum œgi ‘twisted terrifier’ (ll. 1, 2) to produce a kenning for Miðgarðsormr vrǫngum œgi vágs ‘twisted terrifier of the ocean [= Miðgarðsormr]’.
sendir ‘sender’
(not checked:)
sendir (noun m.): sender, distributor < byrsendir (noun m.)
kennings
Byrsendir vágs‘The wind-sender of the sea ’
= GIANT = Hymir
The wind-sender of the sea → GIANT = Hymir
notes
[2] byrsendir vágs ‘the wind-sender of the ocean [GIANT = Hymir]’: The hap. leg. cpd byrsendir ‘wind-sender’ is to be understood in connection with mythological associations between giants, like Hræsvelgr, and the generation of wind (cf. SnE 2005, 20). This reading was proposed by Kock (NN §2205F). On the associations between supernatural beings in Old Norse and the raising of wind, see Perkins (2001). Skj B (cf. LP: hyrsendir, vágr 2) adopts the variant reading hyrsendir ‘fire-sender’, construing it with vágs as a man-kenning ‘sender of the fire of the bay [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’, a rather inappropriate kenning for Hymir! Vágr means either the sea, especially when disturbed by wind (LP: vágr 1), or a bay (LP: vágr 2). It is also possible to construe vágs (l. 2) with vrǫngum œgi ‘twisted terrifier’ (ll. 1, 2) to produce a kenning for Miðgarðsormr vrǫngum œgi vágs ‘twisted terrifier of the ocean [= Miðgarðsormr]’.
notes
[2] œgi ‘terrifier’: Understood here as from œgir m. (cf. 3/3 above), and so a term for the World Serpent (cf. NN §2206D), rather than from ægir m. ‘ocean’, whether as a common noun or personified as Ægir, a giant representing the sea. Skj B construes Vágs hyrsendir vildit ofra vrǫngum ægi as Manden … vilde ikke yppe strid mod den grumme sø ‘The man [Hymir] … did not want to pick a quarrel with the cruel sea’. However, the mss’ ægi are likely to reflect the unrounding of [ø:] to [æ:], which occurred by at least c. 1220 (Hreinn Benediktsson 1965, 67-70).
mjó ‘the slender’
(not checked:)
mjór (adj.; °mjóvan; comp. mjór(r)i/mjár(r)i, superl. -str/mjóvastr): slender < mjótygill (noun m.)
kennings
mjótygil mœrar máva‘the slender string of the marshland of seagulls ’
= FISHING LINE
the marshland of seagulls → SEA
the slender string of the SEA → FISHING LINE
tygil ‘string’
(not checked:)
tygill (noun m.; °dat. tygli; tyglar): [string] < mjótygill (noun m.)
[3] ‑tygil: so all others, tygill R
kennings
mjótygil mœrar máva‘the slender string of the marshland of seagulls ’
= FISHING LINE
the marshland of seagulls → SEA
the slender string of the SEA → FISHING LINE
máva ‘of seagulls’
(not checked:)
már (noun m.): gull
kennings
mjótygil mœrar máva‘the slender string of the marshland of seagulls ’
= FISHING LINE
the marshland of seagulls → SEA
the slender string of the SEA → FISHING LINE
máva ‘of seagulls’
(not checked:)
már (noun m.): gull
kennings
mjótygil mœrar máva‘the slender string of the marshland of seagulls ’
= FISHING LINE
the marshland of seagulls → SEA
the slender string of the SEA → FISHING LINE
mœrar ‘of the marshland’
(not checked:)
2. mœrr (noun f.): marsh
[4] mœrar: so A, C, ‘mórar’ R, Tˣ, ‘[…]ra[…]’ B, ‘me᷎rar’ 744ˣ
kennings
mjótygil mœrar máva‘the slender string of the marshland of seagulls ’
= FISHING LINE
the marshland of seagulls → SEA
the slender string of the SEA → FISHING LINE
mœrar ‘of the marshland’
(not checked:)
2. mœrr (noun f.): marsh
[4] mœrar: so A, C, ‘mórar’ R, Tˣ, ‘[…]ra[…]’ B, ‘me᷎rar’ 744ˣ
kennings
mjótygil mœrar máva‘the slender string of the marshland of seagulls ’
= FISHING LINE
the marshland of seagulls → SEA
the slender string of the SEA → FISHING LINE
fyr ‘for’
(not checked:)
fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
Þóri ‘Þórr’
(not checked:)
Þórr (noun m.): Thor; giant, ogre, monster
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The helmingr is cited in a section of Skm that gives quotations demonstrating various terms for the sea and waves. Though it appears to be from the same poem as Bragi Þórr 1-5, it is isolated in Skm from other stanzas identified as Bragi’s. The helmingr is introduced by Vágr, sem Bragi kvað ‘Sea [or ‘bay’], as Bragi said’.
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