Þjóð Haustl 18^III

Fjǫrspillir lét falla
fjalfrs ólágra gjalfra
bǫlverðungar Belja
bolm á randar holmi.
Þar hné grundar gilja
gramr fyr skǫrpum hamri,
en berg-Dana bagði
brjótr við jǫrmunþrjóti.

{Fjǫrspillir {bǫlverðungar Belja}} lét {bolm {fjalfrs ólágra gjalfra}} falla á {holmi randar}. Þar hné {gramr {grundar gilja}} fyr skǫrpum hamri, en {brjótr {berg-Dana}} bagði við jǫrmunþrjóti.

{The life-destroyer {of the evil-causing troop of Beli <giant>}} [GIANTS > = Þórr] made {the bear {of the hiding-place of not low roaring waters}} [CAVE > GIANT = Hrungnir] fall on {the island of the shield-rim} [SHIELD]. There {the ruler {of the land of ravines}} [MOUNTAINS > GIANT = Hrungnir] sank down on account of the tough hammer, and {the breaker {of rock-Danes}} [GIANTS > = Þórr] caused injury to the mighty obstinate one.

Mss: R(24r), Tˣ(24v), W(51) (SnE)

Readings: [2] fjalfrs: ‘fialbrs’ all;    gjalfra: ‘gialbra’ all    [6] gramr: ‘gnir’ Tˣ, ‘gramm’ W    [8] jǫrmunþrjóti: so W, jǫrmun R, ‘jorman’ Tˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 20, Skj BI, 18, Skald I, 11, NN §§2504, 3040, 3203; SnE 1848-87, I, 282-3, III, 22-3, SnE 1931, 105, SnE 1998, I, 23.

Context: As for st. 14.

Notes: [All]: There is a partial discrepancy between this stanza’s statement that Þórr caused Hrungnir to fall on his shield (ll. 1-4) and the elaborate narrative of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 22), in which Þórr fell forward, hit in the forehead by a shaft from Hrungnir’s whetstone, while Hrungnir himself, hit by Mjǫllnir, fell forward over the prostrate Þórr so that one leg lay over the god’s neck. — [2, 4] bolm fjalfrs ólágra gjalfra ‘the bear of the hiding-place of not low roaring waters [CAVE > GIANT = Hrungnir]’: As often in giant-kennings, an animal base-word is employed (cf. Meissner 258-9). Here Hrungnir is compared to a bear, and his dwelling to a mountain cave, which is fjalfr ólágra gjalfra ‘the hiding-place of not low [i.e. high] roaring waters’. Ólágr lit. ‘un-low’ could be understood in two senses: high, in the sense of stormy, rising high (of roaring waters or seas), or high in the sense of high up in the mountains. The latter is probably the more likely here. — [3] Belja ‘of Beli <giant>’: The name of a giant killed by the god Freyr (SnE 2005, 31-2; Vsp 53/5). Beli’s troop are giants in general, and their destroyer is Þórr. — [7] berg-Dana ‘of rock-Danes’: A kenning for giants, which also appears in Hym 17/7. Other kennings whose base-words compare giants to Danes are Eil Þdr 13/6, 8 and VSt Erf 2/2, 4. Kock (Skald and NN §3203, following Lindquist 1929, 88-9) emends to berg-Agða ‘rock-people of Agder’ (a district of southern Norway) to achieve skothending in this line, though there is no ms. support for this. — [7] bagði ‘caused injury’: Cf. AEW: baga 2. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emended to bægði, from bægja ‘strive against, oppose’ (cf. LP: bægja).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
7. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
8. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
12. Lindquist, Ivar. 1929. Norröna lovkväden från 800 och 900 talen. I: Förslag till restituerad täxt jämte översättning. Lund: Gleerup.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ 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=112> (accessed 18 April 2024)
15. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Eilífr Goðrúnarson, Þórsdrápa 13’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 104.
16. Not published: do not cite ()
17. Not published: do not cite ()
18. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Vǫlu-Steinn, Ǫgmundardrápa 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 429.