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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Eil Þdr 15III

Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Eilífr Goðrúnarson, Þórsdrápa 15’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 108.

Eilífr GoðrúnarsonÞórsdrápa
141516

text and translation

Ok hôm loga himna
hall- fylvingum -vallar
trôðusk, þærs við tróði
tungls brásali* þrungu.
Hofstjóri braut hvôru-
hreggs váfreiðar -tveggja
hlátrelliða hellis
hundfornan kjǫl sprundi.

Trôðusk {fylvingum {hallvallar}} ok {hôm loga himna}, þærs þrungu {{tungls brá}sali*} við tróði. {Hofstjóri váfreiðar hreggs} braut {hundfornan kjǫl {hlátrelliða}} {hvôrutveggja sprundi hellis}.
 
‘They were trampled upon by the nuts of the sloping-plain [MOUNTAINS > STONES] and the high flame of the skies [LIGHTNING], those who pressed the hall of the moon of eyelashes [(lit. ‘eyelash-hall of the moon’) EYE > HEAD] against the rafter. The temple-steerer of the hovering chariot of the thunderstorm [= Þórr] broke the age-old keel of the laughter-ship [BREAST > BACK] of both women of the cave [GIANTESSES].

notes and context

See Context to st. 1.

The content of this stanza essentially corresponds to Snorri’s narrative in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 25). As it goes, Þórr, seated in a chair, is squashed against the roof by the giantesses and defends himself by pressing the staff Gríðarvǫlr against the roof. In doing so he breaks the backs of the two giantesses under his chair. However, all editorial attempts to produce an exact match between the content of the stanza and the story as it is told in Skm have led to unacceptable textual interpretations of the stanza. The present edn assumes that Snorri’s narrative could be based on a variant version of the myth that does not fully agree with the stanza. The relatively simple interpretation given here, with minimal emendations, differs somewhat from Snorri’s version. According to the stanza, Þórr, the thunder god, armed with bolts of lightning that cause a rockslide, defends himself against the giantesses and breaks their backs.

readings

sources

Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.

editions and texts

Skj: Eilífr Goðrúnarson, 2. Þórsdrápa 14: AI, 150, BI, 142, Skald I, 78, NN §§348, 462-3, 2107; SnE 1848-87, I, 298-301, III, 35, SnE 1931, 109, SnE 1998, I, 28-9.

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