Refr Frag 1III
Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Hofgarða-Refr Gestsson, Fragments 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. 259.
í ‘into’
(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into
golli ‘the gold’
(not checked:)
gull (noun n.): gold
stokkna ‘adorned’
(not checked:)
stokkinn (adj./verb p.p.): spattered, splattered
[1] stokkna: ‘stockua’ 2368ˣ
kennings
Gjǫfrífr askr drífu Hôars‘The gift-rash ash-tree of the snow-storm of Hárr ’
= WARRIOR
the snow-storm of Hárr → BATTLE
The gift-rash ash-tree of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
rífr ‘rash ’
(not checked:)
rífr (adj.; °superl. -astr): fertile, abundant, rash < gjǫfrífr (adj.)
[2] ‑rífr: ríkr Tˣ
kennings
Gjǫfrífr askr drífu Hôars‘The gift-rash ash-tree of the snow-storm of Hárr ’
= WARRIOR
the snow-storm of Hárr → BATTLE
The gift-rash ash-tree of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
kennings
Gjǫfrífr askr drífu Hôars‘The gift-rash ash-tree of the snow-storm of Hárr ’
= WARRIOR
the snow-storm of Hárr → BATTLE
The gift-rash ash-tree of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
kennings
Gjǫfrífr askr drífu Hôars‘The gift-rash ash-tree of the snow-storm of Hárr ’
= WARRIOR
the snow-storm of Hárr → BATTLE
The gift-rash ash-tree of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
kennings
Gjǫfrífr askr drífu Hôars‘The gift-rash ash-tree of the snow-storm of Hárr ’
= WARRIOR
the snow-storm of Hárr → BATTLE
The gift-rash ash-tree of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
kennings
Gjǫfrífr askr drífu Hôars‘The gift-rash ash-tree of the snow-storm of Hárr ’
= WARRIOR
the snow-storm of Hárr → BATTLE
The gift-rash ash-tree of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
askr ‘ash-tree’
(not checked:)
askr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): ash, ash-tree, ash-ship
kennings
Gjǫfrífr askr drífu Hôars‘The gift-rash ash-tree of the snow-storm of Hárr ’
= WARRIOR
the snow-storm of Hárr → BATTLE
The gift-rash ash-tree of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
viðr ‘performs’
(not checked:)
2. viða (verb): gain, bring about
[3] viðr: so Tˣ, W, 2368ˣ, við R, U, C, vinnr A
notes
[3] viðr ‘performs’: Unlike Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), Faulkes (SnE 1998) and the present edn, Kock (NN §1128) does not interpret this word as a verb (3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of vinna ‘perform’), but rather as the prep. við ‘with’, which he combines with œrinn þroska ‘plenty of manly deeds’. He takes the subject of the intercalary clause which he reads él-Freyr (mss A, C) ‘storm-Freyr’, as an apposition to askr drífu Hars ‘ash-tree of the snow-storm of Hárr’ and combines við with œrinn þroska meaning ‘with enormous manly power’. Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 193) objects that ‘við would not normally be used with this meaning’ (however, see Fritzner: við 10 and LP: við 7). In any case, the A variant vinnr, the more common 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. form of vinna and a variant form of viðr (so mss Tˣ, W, 2368ˣ), suggests that the latter is the verb rather than the prep. við.
þroska ‘manly deeds’
(not checked:)
þroski (noun m.; °-a): manly deed, manhood
ǫs ‘the tumult’
(not checked:)
ǫs (noun f.): [tumult] < esfreyr (noun m.)
[4] ǫs‑ (‘as‑’): so W, 2368ˣ, ‘es‑’ R, Tˣ, egg‑ U, él‑ A, C
kennings
ǫs-Freyr‘the tumult-Freyr ’
= WARRIOR
the tumult-Freyr → WARRIOR
notes
[4] ǫs-Freyr ‘the tumult-Freyr <god> [WARRIOR]’: The mss offer different variants of the first element of this cpd: ‘es-’ (R, Tˣ), ‘as-’ (W, 2368ˣ), ‘el-’ (A, C), and ‘egg-’ (U). As all of them cause problems, it is difficult to opt for one of them. (a) This edn adopts the reading ‘as-’ (W, 2368ˣ) normalized to ǫs ‘tumult, battle’ (see LP: ǫs) as did Finnur Jónsson (Skj B and LP: es-Freyr). He follows a suggestion by Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 317 n. 285), who calls attention to the uncommon word ǫs ‘tumult’, which is attested in poetry (see LP: ǫs) but not in Old Norse prose (but cf. ModNorw. as ‘toil, racket’). But even Konráð Gíslason and Finnur Jónsson (LP: es-Freyr) expressed doubts about this interpretation. (b) Kock (NN §1128) adopts él-Freyr ‘the storm-Freyr’ (so A, C) as a warrior kenning. Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 193) considers this option as well, although he settles on *as-Freyr in the text of his edn (SnE 1998, I, 65); he interprets as- or él-Freyr as a warrior-kenning and translates it as ‘tumult-/storm- (of battle) Freyr’ (SnE 1998, II, 236, 265). However, él does not mean ‘battle’ but ‘storm’ and though it does appear as a base-word in battle-kennings, it always requires a determinant (‘weapon’, ‘valkyrie’, ‘sea-king’ etc.). (c) It is not possible to construe a warrior-kenning with egg- (U), as egg- is part of the cpd eggþeys ‘of the sword-dew’. (d) Another solution could be to opt for ‘es’ from the main ms. R (also found in Tˣ), normalised to ess ‘steed’. Ess is a loanword whose origin has been explained in various ways – either from OE ess (so Fritzner: ess, but the word cannot be found in Old English dictionaries) or from MLG örs, ors (so AEW: ers, ess). Ess-Freyr ‘the steed-Freyr’ could be taken as an unusual ad hoc kenning for ‘lover’ formed to suit the situation (sexual activity). Cf. the sexual symbolism in Bósa saga, in which intercourse is expressed in Ek vil brynna fola mínum í vínkeldu þinni ‘I want to water my foal in your wine-well’ (Bósa saga ch. 11, Jiriczek 1893, 39-40). The choice of ess might be supported by its presence in the main ms. and by its status as lectio difficilior. The problem is the very unusual kenning.
kennings
ǫs-Freyr‘the tumult-Freyr ’
= WARRIOR
the tumult-Freyr → WARRIOR
notes
[4] ǫs-Freyr ‘the tumult-Freyr <god> [WARRIOR]’: The mss offer different variants of the first element of this cpd: ‘es-’ (R, Tˣ), ‘as-’ (W, 2368ˣ), ‘el-’ (A, C), and ‘egg-’ (U). As all of them cause problems, it is difficult to opt for one of them. (a) This edn adopts the reading ‘as-’ (W, 2368ˣ) normalized to ǫs ‘tumult, battle’ (see LP: ǫs) as did Finnur Jónsson (Skj B and LP: es-Freyr). He follows a suggestion by Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 317 n. 285), who calls attention to the uncommon word ǫs ‘tumult’, which is attested in poetry (see LP: ǫs) but not in Old Norse prose (but cf. ModNorw. as ‘toil, racket’). But even Konráð Gíslason and Finnur Jónsson (LP: es-Freyr) expressed doubts about this interpretation. (b) Kock (NN §1128) adopts él-Freyr ‘the storm-Freyr’ (so A, C) as a warrior kenning. Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 193) considers this option as well, although he settles on *as-Freyr in the text of his edn (SnE 1998, I, 65); he interprets as- or él-Freyr as a warrior-kenning and translates it as ‘tumult-/storm- (of battle) Freyr’ (SnE 1998, II, 236, 265). However, él does not mean ‘battle’ but ‘storm’ and though it does appear as a base-word in battle-kennings, it always requires a determinant (‘weapon’, ‘valkyrie’, ‘sea-king’ etc.). (c) It is not possible to construe a warrior-kenning with egg- (U), as egg- is part of the cpd eggþeys ‘of the sword-dew’. (d) Another solution could be to opt for ‘es’ from the main ms. R (also found in Tˣ), normalised to ess ‘steed’. Ess is a loanword whose origin has been explained in various ways – either from OE ess (so Fritzner: ess, but the word cannot be found in Old English dictionaries) or from MLG örs, ors (so AEW: ers, ess). Ess-Freyr ‘the steed-Freyr’ could be taken as an unusual ad hoc kenning for ‘lover’ formed to suit the situation (sexual activity). Cf. the sexual symbolism in Bósa saga, in which intercourse is expressed in Ek vil brynna fola mínum í vínkeldu þinni ‘I want to water my foal in your wine-well’ (Bósa saga ch. 11, Jiriczek 1893, 39-40). The choice of ess might be supported by its presence in the main ms. and by its status as lectio difficilior. The problem is the very unusual kenning.
sæing ‘bed’
(not checked:)
sæng (noun f.; °-r/-(j)ar, dat. -/-u; -r/-ar/-jar): bed
[4] sæing: ‘sæ[…]’ U
meyjar ‘of the woman’
(not checked:)
mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden
[4] meyjar: ‘mey[…]’ U
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The helmingr is cited in Skm (SnE) and LaufE exemplifying the use of tree-names as base-words in kennings for ‘man’.
Skj B takes as-Freyr ‘the tumult-Freyr’ (on the choice of as- as the first element of the cpd, see Note to l. 4 below) as the subject of the main clause and askr drífu Hars ‘ash-tree of the snow-storm of Hárr’ as the subject of the intercalary clause. There is no reason to change the straightforward word order of the stanza, however, in which ǫs-Freyr ‘the tumult-Freyr’ appears as the subject of the intercalary clause.
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