ESk Øxfl 3^III

Hróðrbarni knák Hǫrnar
— hlutum dýran grip — stýra
(brandr þrymr gjalfrs á grandi)
gollvífiðu (hlífar).
Sáðs (berr sínar móður)
svans unni mér gunnar
fóstrgœðandi Fróða
(Freys nipt bráa driptir).

Knák stýra {gollvífiðu hróðrbarni Hǫrnar}; hlutum dýran grip; {brandr gjalfrs} þrymr á {grandi hlífar}. {Fóstrgœðandi {svans gunnar}} unni mér {sáðs Fróða}; {nipt Freys} berr {{driptir bráa} móður sínar}.

I possess {the gold-wrapped glory-child of Hǫrn <= Freyja>} [= Hnoss (hnoss ‘treasure’)]; we [I] received a precious treasure; {fire of the surge} [GOLD] rests on {the harm of the shield} [AXE/SWORD]. {The provisions-increaser {of the swan of battle}} [RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIOR] gave me {Fróði’s <legendary king’s> seed} [GOLD]; {Freyr’s <god’s> niece} [= Hnoss (hnoss ‘treasure’)] bears {{the rain of eyelashes} [TEARS] of her mother <= Freyja>} [GOLD].

Mss: R(28r), Tˣ(29r), W(73) (SnE); 2368ˣ(91) (l. 8), 743ˣ(72r) (l. 8) (LaufE)

Readings: [3] þrymr: þrumir Tˣ, W;    gjalfrs: so Tˣ, gjalfr R, gjalfs W    [4] ‑vífiðu: ‘vifodo’ Tˣ;    hlífar: so Tˣ, hlíðar R, W    [7] Fróða: ‘fro᷎da’ Tˣ, fræða W    [8] Freys nipt bráa driptir: ‘Brꜳ dripter freys niptar’ 2368ˣ, ‘Bra̋dripter freys niptar’ 743ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 478, Skj BI, 450, Skald I, 221, NN §956; SnE 1848-87, I, 348-9, III, 57, SnE 1931, 125, SnE 1998, I, 44; LaufE 1979, 346.

Context: The stanza is given in Skm after st. 2 above to illustrate that the goddess Freyja could be referred to as móðir Hnossar ‘the mother of Hnoss’. In LaufE l. 8 is found in a section with kennings for ‘gold’, where Freyja’s tears are ‘gold’ (see Note to l. 8 below).

Notes: [All]: In Skm the stanza is separated from st. 2 by Ok enn svá ‘And again thus’, and in LaufE l. 8 is attributed to Einarr Skúlason. — [1] hróðrbarni Hǫrnar ‘glory-child of Hǫrn <= Freyja> [= Hnoss (hnoss ‘treasure’)]’: Hnoss is the daughter of the goddess Freyja in Old Norse myth, and hnoss also means ‘treasure’, thus allowing for an ofljóst ‘too transparent’ construction here and in the next helmingr. Cf. SnE 2005, 29: Dóttir þeira heitir Hnoss. Hon er svá fǫgr at af hennar nafni eru hnossir kallaðar þat er fagrt er ok gersemligt ‘Their daughter is called Hnoss. She is so beautiful that what is beautiful and precious is called hnossir [‘treasures’] from her name’. — [4] hlífar ‘of the shield’: So Tˣ. The R, W variant hlíðar ‘of the slope’ makes no sense in the context and leaves the line without internal rhyme. The kenning grand hlífar ‘the harm of the shield’ (ll. 3, 4) could refer either to an axe or to a sword. See also Note to st. 9/1-2, 3, 4. — [5-8]: For Freyja weeping tears of gold, see Note to st. 1/1-4 above. — [5] móður sínar ‘of her mother’: This is an unusual kenning, because sínar is an adjectival pron. rather than a name or a noun. For the form sínar, see ANG §456.3. — [5, 6, 7] sáðs Fróða; fóstrgœðandi svans gunnar ‘Fróði’s <legendary king’s> seed [GOLD]; the provisions-increaser of the swan of battle [RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIOR]’: The first kenning refers to the story told in Grottasǫngr (Grott, SnE 1998, I, 51-8) about two giantesses, Fenja and Menja, who grind gold under duress for the legendary king Fróði of Denmark (see NN §956). Sáð ‘seed’ must be a variation of ‘flour’ or ‘grain’ here. See also Note to Anon Bjark 4/3. Skj B construes the kennings as Fróða fóstr-sáð ‘Fróði’s fosterling-seed’ (i.e. ‘Fenja and Menja’s seed’, with tmesis) and gœðandi svans gunnar ‘feeder of the swan of battle’ (so also SnE 1998, I, 44, II, 278, 298). That interpretation is less preferable because it creates an awkward tripartite odd line of Type D. — [8] nipt Freys ‘Freyr’s <god’s> niece [= Hnoss (hnoss ‘treasure’)]’: See Note to l. 1 above. Nipt means ‘female relative, sister, daughter, woman’ and Freyr was Freyja’s brother, hence ‘niece’ here. As it stands in LaufE, this line can be construed as brádriptir niptar Freys ‘the eyelash-rains of the sister of Freyr’, i.e. as another kenning for ‘gold’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
7. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
8. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
9. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Internal references
12. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Bjarkamál in fornu 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 500.
13. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘(Biography of) Einarr Skúlason’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 140.
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 9 May 2024)
15. Not published: do not cite ()
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=10928> (accessed 9 May 2024)