Alison Finlay (ed.) 2012, ‘Glúmr Geirason, Gráfeldardrápa 14’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 264.
Kunni tolf, sás, tanna,
tíðum, Hallinskíða
ógnarstafr, of jǫfra,
íþróttir, framm sótti.
{Ógnarstafr {tanna Hallinskíða}}, sás tíðum sótti framm of jǫfra, kunni tolf íþróttir.
{The terror-stave {of the teeth of Hallinskíði <= Heimdallr>}} [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN], who often launched attacks on princes, had twelve skills.
Mss: Kˣ(109v), 39(3ra), F(19rb), J1ˣ(65v), J2ˣ(63r) (Hkr); 61(6vb), Bb(9ra) (ÓT)
Readings: [1] tanna: kanna 61, Bb [2] tíðum: tíða Bb; Hallin‑: halm J1ˣ, J2ˣ, haldin 61, hjalm ok Bb [3] ‑stafr: starfr J1ˣ; of: ok Bb [4] framm: frá J1ˣ
Editions: Skj AI, 78, Skj BI, 68, Skald I, 42, NN §§1814C, 1827E; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 229, IV, 65, ÍF 26, 204, Hkr 1991, I, 135 (HGráf ch. 2), F 1871, 87; Fms 1, 52, Fms 12, 31, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 51 (ch. 32).
Context: The stanza accompanies a description of the Eiríkssynir (or Gunnhildarsynir).
Notes: [1, 4] kunni tolf íþróttir ‘had twelve skills’: This is reminiscent of Hharð Gamv 4II and Rv Lv 1II, in which Haraldr harðráði and Rǫgnvaldr Kali enumerate eight and nine skills respectively; see Note to st. 11/2 above. — [1] kunni tolf, sás, tanna: On this tripartite line, see Gade (1995a, 215). — [1, 2] tanna Hallinskíða ‘of the teeth of Hallinskíði <= Heimdallr> [GOLD]’: Gylf (SnE 2005, 25) gives Hallinskíði as a name of the god Heimdallr, and says that his teeth were of gold. Hallinskíði, perhaps ‘one with leaning sticks’, is also a heiti for ‘ram’, and there may be an association between the animal and Heimdallr (see Þul Hrúts 1/6III and Note; Simek 1993, 128-9). — [3] ógnarstafr ‘the terror-stave’: Ógn ‘terror’ has the secondary meaning ‘battle’, and stafr ógnar occurs as a kenning for ‘warrior’ in Ótt Knútdr 11/7. Here, though, the primary sense ‘terror’ is required to complete the kenning: the generous man frightens gold away, i.e. dispenses it liberally. This is another example of a rare kenning type in which the base-word is compounded with an element denoting an action of which the determinant is the object; cf. sœkialfr ‘attacking elf’ in st. 13/3 and Note to st. 13/3, 4. — [3, 4] sótti framm of jǫfra ‘launched attacks on princes’: Sveinbjörn Egilsson (Fms 12) allows sótti framm to stand alone, meaning ‘launched attacks’, and prints of-jöfra, which he takes with íþróttir, translating the phrase as konunglegar íþróttir ‘kingly skills’.
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