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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Ggnæv Þórr 1^III

Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gamli gnævaðarskáld, Poem about Þórr 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. 189.

Gamli gnævaðarskáld Poem about Þórr1

Meðan ‘While’

(not checked:)
meðan (conj.): while

[1] Meðan: þá er U

gramr ‘the ruler’

(not checked:)
1. gramr (noun m.): ruler

kennings

gramr Bilskirnis,
‘the ruler of Bilskirnir, ’
= Þórr
the ruler of Bilskirnir, → Þórr

hinns ‘the one who’

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

svik ‘treachery’

(not checked:)
1. svik (noun n.; °-s; -): deceit, treachery; poison

samðit ‘did not plan’

(not checked:)
2. sama (verb): befit

[1] samðit: so U, samði all others

notes

[1] samðit ‘did not plan’: Ms. U’s reading, with suffixed neg. particle ‑t, has been preferred (with all other eds) over the majority mss’ samði ‘planned’, on grounds of sense, because the god Þórr had a reputation for guilelessness: in Norse myth, he nowhere plans treachery against the gods’ enemies, but acts on their behalf, usually with physical violence, to control or eradicate them.

snart ‘quickly’

(not checked:)
snart (adv.): [quickly]

Bilskirnis ‘of Bilskirnir’

(not checked:)
Bilskírnir (noun m.): [Bilskirnir]

[2] Bilskirnis: bilskirni U

kennings

gramr Bilskirnis,
‘the ruler of Bilskirnir, ’
= Þórr
the ruler of Bilskirnir, → Þórr

notes

[2] Bilskirnis ‘of Bilskirnir <mythic hall>’: Name of Þórr’s hall, according to Grí 24/3 and Gylf (SnE 2005, 22). For possible etymologies, see AEW: Bilskirnir.

hjarta ‘in his heart’

(not checked:)
hjarta (noun n.; °-; *-u): heart

notes

[2] hjarta ‘in his heart’: Understood here as an adverbial dat. (so Skj B), but it is possible to construe it, as Kock does (NN §1893), as the subject of the rel. clause hinns hjarta samðit svik ‘whose heart did not plan treachery’.

grundar ‘of the sea-bed’

(not checked:)
grund (noun f.): earth, land

kennings

fisk grundar
‘the fish of the sea-bed ’
= Miðgarðsormr
the fish of the sea-bed → Miðgarðsormr

fisk ‘the fish’

(not checked:)
fiskr (noun m.): fish

kennings

fisk grundar
‘the fish of the sea-bed ’
= Miðgarðsormr
the fish of the sea-bed → Miðgarðsormr

með ‘with’

(not checked:)
með (prep.): with

grandi ‘the destruction’

(not checked:)
grand (noun n.): injury

kennings

grandi gljúfrskeljungs.
‘the destruction of the gully-whale.’
= Mjǫllnir
the gully-whale. → GIANT
the destruction of the GIANT → Mjǫllnir

gljúfr ‘of the gully’

(not checked:)
gljúfr (noun n.): gully < gljúfrskeljungr (noun m.)

kennings

grandi gljúfrskeljungs.
‘the destruction of the gully-whale.’
= Mjǫllnir
the gully-whale. → GIANT
the destruction of the GIANT → Mjǫllnir

notes

[4] gljúfrskeljungs ‘of the gully-whale [GIANT]’: The cpd is a hap. leg. but its referent is not in doubt. Gljúfr is a wild ravine or gully through which rivers flow, while skeljungr is a kind of whale, possibly a humpback; the word occurs in Þul Hvala 2/3 and in Konungs skuggsjá (Holm-Olsen 1983, 16). For giant-kennings with base-words meaning ‘whale’, see Meissner 258-9.

gljúfr ‘of the gully’

(not checked:)
gljúfr (noun n.): gully < gljúfrskeljungr (noun m.)

kennings

grandi gljúfrskeljungs.
‘the destruction of the gully-whale.’
= Mjǫllnir
the gully-whale. → GIANT
the destruction of the GIANT → Mjǫllnir

notes

[4] gljúfrskeljungs ‘of the gully-whale [GIANT]’: The cpd is a hap. leg. but its referent is not in doubt. Gljúfr is a wild ravine or gully through which rivers flow, while skeljungr is a kind of whale, possibly a humpback; the word occurs in Þul Hvala 2/3 and in Konungs skuggsjá (Holm-Olsen 1983, 16). For giant-kennings with base-words meaning ‘whale’, see Meissner 258-9.

skeljungs ‘whale’

(not checked:)
skeljungr (noun m.): [whale, humpback] < gljúfrskeljungr (noun m.)

kennings

grandi gljúfrskeljungs.
‘the destruction of the gully-whale.’
= Mjǫllnir
the gully-whale. → GIANT
the destruction of the GIANT → Mjǫllnir

notes

[4] gljúfrskeljungs ‘of the gully-whale [GIANT]’: The cpd is a hap. leg. but its referent is not in doubt. Gljúfr is a wild ravine or gully through which rivers flow, while skeljungr is a kind of whale, possibly a humpback; the word occurs in Þul Hvala 2/3 and in Konungs skuggsjá (Holm-Olsen 1983, 16). For giant-kennings with base-words meaning ‘whale’, see Meissner 258-9.

skeljungs ‘whale’

(not checked:)
skeljungr (noun m.): [whale, humpback] < gljúfrskeljungr (noun m.)

kennings

grandi gljúfrskeljungs.
‘the destruction of the gully-whale.’
= Mjǫllnir
the gully-whale. → GIANT
the destruction of the GIANT → Mjǫllnir

notes

[4] gljúfrskeljungs ‘of the gully-whale [GIANT]’: The cpd is a hap. leg. but its referent is not in doubt. Gljúfr is a wild ravine or gully through which rivers flow, while skeljungr is a kind of whale, possibly a humpback; the word occurs in Þul Hvala 2/3 and in Konungs skuggsjá (Holm-Olsen 1983, 16). For giant-kennings with base-words meaning ‘whale’, see Meissner 258-9.

nam ‘’

(not checked:)
1. nema (verb): to take

[4] nam: mun U

rjúfa ‘smashed’

(not checked:)
rjúfa (verb): break

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

The citation comes among a number of others exemplifying kennings for the god Þórr. It is introduced with the words: Svá kvað Gamli ‘So said Gamli’.

The helmingr seems to be the second part of a stanza, introduced in R, Tˣ and W by the conj. meðan ‘while’. Ms. U has the introductory þás (þá er) ‘when’, which has been preferred by Skj B and Skald. Gamli describes Þórr’s smashing the World Serpent, Miðgarðsormr, with his hammer, Mjǫllnir, when they fought in the ocean.

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