SnSt Ht 7III
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 7’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1111.
Hjálms ‘of the helmet’
(not checked:)
1. hjalmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): helmet
kennings
fylli hjálms Vindhlés;‘with Vindhlér’s filling of the helmet; ’
= SWORD
filling of the helmet; → HEAD
with Vindhlér’s of the HEAD → SWORD
notes
[1, 2] fylli hjálms Vindhlés ‘with Vindhlér’s <= Heimdallr’s> filling of the helmet [HEAD > SWORD]’: Vindhlér is the fourth word that must be pronounced ‘slowly’ to achieve a hexasyllabic line. The etymology of the second element of that cpd, ‑hlér, is disputed, however, and it is doubtful whether this word actually was an earlier hiatus-word (AEW: Vindhlér; Kuhn 1983, 69-70). ‘Heimdallr’s head’ is a kenning for ‘sword’, because the god Heimdallr was once struck with a man’s head. This explanation, which is provided in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 19, 108; see also SnE 2005, 26), is unclear and could represent a late attempt to make sense of this particular type of kenning (see the discussion in Meissner 126-7 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7), although we cannot exclude that it referred to a traditional, now lost myth.
Hjálms ‘of the helmet’
(not checked:)
1. hjalmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): helmet
kennings
fylli hjálms Vindhlés;‘with Vindhlér’s filling of the helmet; ’
= SWORD
filling of the helmet; → HEAD
with Vindhlér’s of the HEAD → SWORD
notes
[1, 2] fylli hjálms Vindhlés ‘with Vindhlér’s <= Heimdallr’s> filling of the helmet [HEAD > SWORD]’: Vindhlér is the fourth word that must be pronounced ‘slowly’ to achieve a hexasyllabic line. The etymology of the second element of that cpd, ‑hlér, is disputed, however, and it is doubtful whether this word actually was an earlier hiatus-word (AEW: Vindhlér; Kuhn 1983, 69-70). ‘Heimdallr’s head’ is a kenning for ‘sword’, because the god Heimdallr was once struck with a man’s head. This explanation, which is provided in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 19, 108; see also SnE 2005, 26), is unclear and could represent a late attempt to make sense of this particular type of kenning (see the discussion in Meissner 126-7 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7), although we cannot exclude that it referred to a traditional, now lost myth.
kennings
fylli hjálms Vindhlés;‘with Vindhlér’s filling of the helmet; ’
= SWORD
filling of the helmet; → HEAD
with Vindhlér’s of the HEAD → SWORD
notes
[1, 2] fylli hjálms Vindhlés ‘with Vindhlér’s <= Heimdallr’s> filling of the helmet [HEAD > SWORD]’: Vindhlér is the fourth word that must be pronounced ‘slowly’ to achieve a hexasyllabic line. The etymology of the second element of that cpd, ‑hlér, is disputed, however, and it is doubtful whether this word actually was an earlier hiatus-word (AEW: Vindhlér; Kuhn 1983, 69-70). ‘Heimdallr’s head’ is a kenning for ‘sword’, because the god Heimdallr was once struck with a man’s head. This explanation, which is provided in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 19, 108; see also SnE 2005, 26), is unclear and could represent a late attempt to make sense of this particular type of kenning (see the discussion in Meissner 126-7 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7), although we cannot exclude that it referred to a traditional, now lost myth.
kennings
fylli hjálms Vindhlés;‘with Vindhlér’s filling of the helmet; ’
= SWORD
filling of the helmet; → HEAD
with Vindhlér’s of the HEAD → SWORD
notes
[1, 2] fylli hjálms Vindhlés ‘with Vindhlér’s <= Heimdallr’s> filling of the helmet [HEAD > SWORD]’: Vindhlér is the fourth word that must be pronounced ‘slowly’ to achieve a hexasyllabic line. The etymology of the second element of that cpd, ‑hlér, is disputed, however, and it is doubtful whether this word actually was an earlier hiatus-word (AEW: Vindhlér; Kuhn 1983, 69-70). ‘Heimdallr’s head’ is a kenning for ‘sword’, because the god Heimdallr was once struck with a man’s head. This explanation, which is provided in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 19, 108; see also SnE 2005, 26), is unclear and could represent a late attempt to make sense of this particular type of kenning (see the discussion in Meissner 126-7 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7), although we cannot exclude that it referred to a traditional, now lost myth.
spekr ‘subdues’
(not checked:)
2. spekja (verb): [subdues]
hvatr ‘The brave’
(not checked:)
hvatr (adj.; °-ari, -an; -astr): keen, brave
kennings
fylli hjálms Vindhlés;‘with Vindhlér’s filling of the helmet; ’
= SWORD
filling of the helmet; → HEAD
with Vindhlér’s of the HEAD → SWORD
notes
[1, 2] fylli hjálms Vindhlés ‘with Vindhlér’s <= Heimdallr’s> filling of the helmet [HEAD > SWORD]’: Vindhlér is the fourth word that must be pronounced ‘slowly’ to achieve a hexasyllabic line. The etymology of the second element of that cpd, ‑hlér, is disputed, however, and it is doubtful whether this word actually was an earlier hiatus-word (AEW: Vindhlér; Kuhn 1983, 69-70). ‘Heimdallr’s head’ is a kenning for ‘sword’, because the god Heimdallr was once struck with a man’s head. This explanation, which is provided in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 19, 108; see also SnE 2005, 26), is unclear and could represent a late attempt to make sense of this particular type of kenning (see the discussion in Meissner 126-7 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7), although we cannot exclude that it referred to a traditional, now lost myth.
hann ‘he’
(not checked:)
hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
[3] hann: so all others, hér R
notes
[3] hann ‘he’: So all other mss. In R, hér ‘here’ has been changed to hann (R*). For similar confusion in R between these words, see Notes to sts 56/7 and 68/8.
hjǫrvi ‘sword’
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hjǫrr (noun m.): sword
þunnum ‘with the slender’
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þunnr (adj.): slender, thin
hræs ‘of carrion’
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hræ (noun n.; °; -): corpse, carrion
kennings
þjóðár hræs‘mighty rivers of carrion ’
= BLOOD
mighty rivers of carrion → BLOOD
kennings
þjóðár hræs‘mighty rivers of carrion ’
= BLOOD
mighty rivers of carrion → BLOOD
ræsa ‘rush’
(not checked:)
ræsa (verb): incite, rush
hilmir ‘lord’
(not checked:)
hilmir (noun m.): prince, protector
notes
[5] lætr ‘makes’: So U. The word is damaged in W, and the R, Tˣ reading, ‘hetr’, cannot be construed as an Old Norse word. It has been altered in R to ‘hvetr’ (R*), which could be taken as the 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of hvetja ‘sharpen, egg on, urge on’ (cf. st. 15/8), but that makes no sense in the context.
eiga ‘possess’
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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
ǫld ‘people’
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ǫld (noun f.; °; aldir): people, age
dreyrfá ‘bloodstained’
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dreyrfár (adj.): blood-stained
skjǫldu ‘shields’
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skjǫldr (noun m.; °skjaldar/skildar, dat. skildi; skildir, acc. skjǫldu): shield
kennings
járngrá serki styrs‘the iron-grey shirts of battle ’
= BYRNIES
the iron-grey shirts of battle → BYRNIES
rýðr ‘reddens’
(not checked:)
rjóða (verb): to redden
stillir ‘ruler’
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stillir (noun m.): ruler
hersum ‘of the hersar’
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hersir (noun m.; °-is; -ar): cheiftan
sterkr ‘the strong’
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sterkr (adj.): strong
járngrá ‘the iron-grey’
(not checked:)
járngrár (adj.): [iron-grey]
kennings
járngrá serki styrs‘the iron-grey shirts of battle ’
= BYRNIES
the iron-grey shirts of battle → BYRNIES
serki ‘shirts’
(not checked:)
1. serkr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -/-i; -ir): shirt
kennings
járngrá serki styrs‘the iron-grey shirts of battle ’
= BYRNIES
the iron-grey shirts of battle → BYRNIES
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
|
Hjálms fylli spekr hilmir |
The brave lord subdues men with Vindhlér’s <= Heimdallr’s> filling of the helmet [HEAD > SWORD]; he can make mighty rivers of carrion [BLOOD] rush with the slender sword. The terrifying lord makes people possess bloodstained shields; the strong ruler reddens the iron-grey shirts of battle [BYRNIES] of the hersar.
The stanza illustrates the poetic license of having syllables in the even lines that are pronounced so slowly that the lines may contain five rather than six syllables.
The headings read: vij. ‘seven’ (Tˣ), oddhent ‘front-rhymed’ (U(47r)). The heading in U refers to the fact that the first internal rhyme in all lines falls in metrical position 1. — Three of the words in this stanza containing syllables that are pronounced ‘slowly’ (samstǫfur seinar) are hiatus-words which earlier would have had an extra syllable: þjóðár < þjóðáar (fem. acc. pl.) ‘mighty rivers’ (l. 4); dreyrfá < dreyrfáa (m. acc. pl.) ‘blood-stained’ (l. 6); járngrá < járngráa (m. acc. pl.) ‘iron-grey’ (l. 8). This stanza and the surrounding prose commentary are very interesting, because they show that, by 1220, earlier hiatus-words had been contracted and were no longer disyllabic, although Snorri knew that they belonged to a special category.
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