Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 83

[2] eyðir baugvalla ‘destroyer of shieldboss-meadows [SHIELDS > WARRIOR = Skúli]’: Eyðir (m. nom. sg.) ‘destroyer’ can only be construed as a form of address (so also SnE 1848-87). As Faulkes (SnE 2007, 71) points out, forms of address are usually accompanied by the imp. in the other stanzas of Ht, and most earlier eds therefore emend to eyðis (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the destroyer’ (an emendation first suggested by Rask in SnE 1818, 264 n. 1), as an attributive to hestar svanfjalla ‘horses of the swan-mountains’ (l. 4): hestar svanfjalla eyðis baugvalla ‘the horses of the swan-mountains [WAVES > SHIPS] of the destroyer of shieldboss-meadows [SHIELDS > WARRIOR]’. Both mss do have the nom. form eyðir, however, and an emendation does not appear to be warranted.

Close

baug ‘of shieldboss’

(not checked:)
baugr (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): ring < baugvǫllr (noun m.): shieldboss-meadows

kennings

Eyðir baugvalla,
‘Destroyer of shieldboss-meadows, ’
= WARRIOR = Skúli
shieldboss-meadows, → SHIELDS
Destroyer of SHIELDS → WARRIOR = Skúli

notes

[2] eyðir baugvalla ‘destroyer of shieldboss-meadows [SHIELDS > WARRIOR = Skúli]’: Eyðir (m. nom. sg.) ‘destroyer’ can only be construed as a form of address (so also SnE 1848-87). As Faulkes (SnE 2007, 71) points out, forms of address are usually accompanied by the imp. in the other stanzas of Ht, and most earlier eds therefore emend to eyðis (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the destroyer’ (an emendation first suggested by Rask in SnE 1818, 264 n. 1), as an attributive to hestar svanfjalla ‘horses of the swan-mountains’ (l. 4): hestar svanfjalla eyðis baugvalla ‘the horses of the swan-mountains [WAVES > SHIPS] of the destroyer of shieldboss-meadows [SHIELDS > WARRIOR]’. Both mss do have the nom. form eyðir, however, and an emendation does not appear to be warranted.

Close

baug ‘of shieldboss’

(not checked:)
baugr (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): ring < baugvǫllr (noun m.): shieldboss-meadows

kennings

Eyðir baugvalla,
‘Destroyer of shieldboss-meadows, ’
= WARRIOR = Skúli
shieldboss-meadows, → SHIELDS
Destroyer of SHIELDS → WARRIOR = Skúli

notes

[2] eyðir baugvalla ‘destroyer of shieldboss-meadows [SHIELDS > WARRIOR = Skúli]’: Eyðir (m. nom. sg.) ‘destroyer’ can only be construed as a form of address (so also SnE 1848-87). As Faulkes (SnE 2007, 71) points out, forms of address are usually accompanied by the imp. in the other stanzas of Ht, and most earlier eds therefore emend to eyðis (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the destroyer’ (an emendation first suggested by Rask in SnE 1818, 264 n. 1), as an attributive to hestar svanfjalla ‘horses of the swan-mountains’ (l. 4): hestar svanfjalla eyðis baugvalla ‘the horses of the swan-mountains [WAVES > SHIPS] of the destroyer of shieldboss-meadows [SHIELDS > WARRIOR]’. Both mss do have the nom. form eyðir, however, and an emendation does not appear to be warranted.

Close

valla ‘meadows’

(not checked:)
vǫllr (noun m.; °vallar, dat. velli; vellir acc. vǫllu/velli): plain, field < baugvǫllr (noun m.): shieldboss-meadows

kennings

Eyðir baugvalla,
‘Destroyer of shieldboss-meadows, ’
= WARRIOR = Skúli
shieldboss-meadows, → SHIELDS
Destroyer of SHIELDS → WARRIOR = Skúli

notes

[2] eyðir baugvalla ‘destroyer of shieldboss-meadows [SHIELDS > WARRIOR = Skúli]’: Eyðir (m. nom. sg.) ‘destroyer’ can only be construed as a form of address (so also SnE 1848-87). As Faulkes (SnE 2007, 71) points out, forms of address are usually accompanied by the imp. in the other stanzas of Ht, and most earlier eds therefore emend to eyðis (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the destroyer’ (an emendation first suggested by Rask in SnE 1818, 264 n. 1), as an attributive to hestar svanfjalla ‘horses of the swan-mountains’ (l. 4): hestar svanfjalla eyðis baugvalla ‘the horses of the swan-mountains [WAVES > SHIPS] of the destroyer of shieldboss-meadows [SHIELDS > WARRIOR]’. Both mss do have the nom. form eyðir, however, and an emendation does not appear to be warranted.

Close

valla ‘meadows’

(not checked:)
vǫllr (noun m.; °vallar, dat. velli; vellir acc. vǫllu/velli): plain, field < baugvǫllr (noun m.): shieldboss-meadows

kennings

Eyðir baugvalla,
‘Destroyer of shieldboss-meadows, ’
= WARRIOR = Skúli
shieldboss-meadows, → SHIELDS
Destroyer of SHIELDS → WARRIOR = Skúli

notes

[2] eyðir baugvalla ‘destroyer of shieldboss-meadows [SHIELDS > WARRIOR = Skúli]’: Eyðir (m. nom. sg.) ‘destroyer’ can only be construed as a form of address (so also SnE 1848-87). As Faulkes (SnE 2007, 71) points out, forms of address are usually accompanied by the imp. in the other stanzas of Ht, and most earlier eds therefore emend to eyðis (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the destroyer’ (an emendation first suggested by Rask in SnE 1818, 264 n. 1), as an attributive to hestar svanfjalla ‘horses of the swan-mountains’ (l. 4): hestar svanfjalla eyðis baugvalla ‘the horses of the swan-mountains [WAVES > SHIPS] of the destroyer of shieldboss-meadows [SHIELDS > WARRIOR]’. Both mss do have the nom. form eyðir, however, and an emendation does not appear to be warranted.

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hlunns ‘of the roller’

(not checked:)
hlunnr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): roller

notes

[3] of hástalla hlunns ‘in the tall foundations of the roller’: This phrase clearly refers to structures in or on which a beached ship rested during the winter. Hlunnr was one of the launching rollers on which a ship was pulled up from the water or launched (cf. Falk 1912, 29-30), but the meaning of hástallar is not immediately clear. The first element is the adj. hár ‘high, tall’ and the second is stallr m. which can have several meanings (Fritzner: stallr 1, 4, 5): ‘stand, structure, foundation, altar’; ‘crib, manger’; ‘stable’. Finnur Jónsson (LP: hôstallr) suggests that hástallr hlunns refers to det af rullestokkene dannede höje underlag (hvorpå skibet står om vinteren) ‘the tall foundation made of launching rollers (on which the ship rests during the winter)’. In a similar vein, Faulkes (SnE 2007, 114) proposes ‘high stand … high slipway-stand, or high supporting structure (for a beached ship)’. The latter interpretation would also fit if stallr here meant ‘crib, manger’. Alternatively, if stallr is taken in the sense ‘stable’, hástalla hlunns ‘the tall stables of the roller’ could be an unconventional kenning for ‘boathouse’ (ON naust; see LP: naust and Falk 1912, 27). According to Hák, king Hákon celebrated his coronation in 1247 in a boathouse he had built by the harbour in Bergen, because that was the largest house in his possession (90 ells long and 60 ells broad; see E 1916, 620).

Close

of ‘in’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

notes

[3] of hástalla hlunns ‘in the tall foundations of the roller’: This phrase clearly refers to structures in or on which a beached ship rested during the winter. Hlunnr was one of the launching rollers on which a ship was pulled up from the water or launched (cf. Falk 1912, 29-30), but the meaning of hástallar is not immediately clear. The first element is the adj. hár ‘high, tall’ and the second is stallr m. which can have several meanings (Fritzner: stallr 1, 4, 5): ‘stand, structure, foundation, altar’; ‘crib, manger’; ‘stable’. Finnur Jónsson (LP: hôstallr) suggests that hástallr hlunns refers to det af rullestokkene dannede höje underlag (hvorpå skibet står om vinteren) ‘the tall foundation made of launching rollers (on which the ship rests during the winter)’. In a similar vein, Faulkes (SnE 2007, 114) proposes ‘high stand … high slipway-stand, or high supporting structure (for a beached ship)’. The latter interpretation would also fit if stallr here meant ‘crib, manger’. Alternatively, if stallr is taken in the sense ‘stable’, hástalla hlunns ‘the tall stables of the roller’ could be an unconventional kenning for ‘boathouse’ (ON naust; see LP: naust and Falk 1912, 27). According to Hák, king Hákon celebrated his coronation in 1247 in a boathouse he had built by the harbour in Bergen, because that was the largest house in his possession (90 ells long and 60 ells broad; see E 1916, 620).

Close

hástalla ‘the tall foundations’

(not checked:)
hástallr (noun m.): [tall foundations]

notes

[3] of hástalla hlunns ‘in the tall foundations of the roller’: This phrase clearly refers to structures in or on which a beached ship rested during the winter. Hlunnr was one of the launching rollers on which a ship was pulled up from the water or launched (cf. Falk 1912, 29-30), but the meaning of hástallar is not immediately clear. The first element is the adj. hár ‘high, tall’ and the second is stallr m. which can have several meanings (Fritzner: stallr 1, 4, 5): ‘stand, structure, foundation, altar’; ‘crib, manger’; ‘stable’. Finnur Jónsson (LP: hôstallr) suggests that hástallr hlunns refers to det af rullestokkene dannede höje underlag (hvorpå skibet står om vinteren) ‘the tall foundation made of launching rollers (on which the ship rests during the winter)’. In a similar vein, Faulkes (SnE 2007, 114) proposes ‘high stand … high slipway-stand, or high supporting structure (for a beached ship)’. The latter interpretation would also fit if stallr here meant ‘crib, manger’. Alternatively, if stallr is taken in the sense ‘stable’, hástalla hlunns ‘the tall stables of the roller’ could be an unconventional kenning for ‘boathouse’ (ON naust; see LP: naust and Falk 1912, 27). According to Hák, king Hákon celebrated his coronation in 1247 in a boathouse he had built by the harbour in Bergen, because that was the largest house in his possession (90 ells long and 60 ells broad; see E 1916, 620).

Close

hestar ‘horses’

(not checked:)
hestr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): horse, stallion

kennings

hestar svanfjalla
‘horses of swan-mountains ’
= SHIPS
swan-mountains → WAVES
horses of WAVES → SHIPS

Close

svan ‘of swan’

(not checked:)
svanr (noun m.; °-s; -ir): swan < svanfjall (noun n.)

kennings

hestar svanfjalla
‘horses of swan-mountains ’
= SHIPS
swan-mountains → WAVES
horses of WAVES → SHIPS

Close

svan ‘of swan’

(not checked:)
svanr (noun m.; °-s; -ir): swan < svanfjall (noun n.)

kennings

hestar svanfjalla
‘horses of swan-mountains ’
= SHIPS
swan-mountains → WAVES
horses of WAVES → SHIPS

Close

fjalla ‘mountains’

(not checked:)
1. fjall (noun n.): mountain < svanfjall (noun n.)

[4] ‑fjalla: so W, fjallar R

kennings

hestar svanfjalla
‘horses of swan-mountains ’
= SHIPS
swan-mountains → WAVES
horses of WAVES → SHIPS

notes

[4] -fjalla ‘-mountains’: So W. Fjallar ‘dresses’ (2nd or 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of fjalla), which makes no sense in the context, has been altered in R to fjalla (R*).

Close

fjalla ‘mountains’

(not checked:)
1. fjall (noun n.): mountain < svanfjall (noun n.)

[4] ‑fjalla: so W, fjallar R

kennings

hestar svanfjalla
‘horses of swan-mountains ’
= SHIPS
swan-mountains → WAVES
horses of WAVES → SHIPS

notes

[4] -fjalla ‘-mountains’: So W. Fjallar ‘dresses’ (2nd or 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of fjalla), which makes no sense in the context, has been altered in R to fjalla (R*).

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