Glúmr Gráf 14^I

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 4^II and Rv Lv 1^II, 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 1/6^III 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’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
9. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
10. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
11. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
12. Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Trans. Angela Hall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ 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=113> (accessed 18 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga gráfeldar’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=138> (accessed 18 April 2024)
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hrúts heiti 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. 891.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Gamanvísur 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 39-40.
18. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Knútsdrápa 11’ 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. 781.
19. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 576-7.