Þjóð Haustl 7^III

Þá varð fastr við fóstra
farmr Sigvinjar arma,
sás ǫll regin eygja,
ǫndurgoðs, í bǫndum.
Loddi rô við ramman
reimuð Jǫtunheima,
en holls vinar Hœnis
hendr við stangar enda.

Þá varð {{farmr arma} Sigvinjar}, sás ǫll regin eygja í bǫndum, fastr við {fóstra {ǫndurgoðs}}. Rô loddi við {ramman reimuð Jǫtunheima}, en hendr {holls vinar Hœnis} við enda stangar.

Then {{the cargo of the arms} [LOVER] of Sigyn <goddess>} [= Loki], the one whom all the divine powers eye in bonds, was [stuck] fast to {the fosterer {of the ski-deity}} [= Skaði > = Þjazi]. The staff stuck to {the mighty haunter of Jǫtunheimar} [= Þjazi], and the hands {of the loyal friend of Hœnir} [= Loki] [stuck] to the end of the pole.

Mss: R(25v), Tˣ(26r), W(55) (SnE)

Readings: [2] Sigvinjar (‘sigyniar’): so all others, Signýjar R    [3] sás (‘sa er’): þá er W    [4] ǫndur‑: ‘aundr’ Tˣ;    bǫndum: hǫndum W

Editions: Skj AI, 17, Skj BI, 15, Skald I, 10, NN §§158, 2504; SnE 1848-87, I, 310-1, III, 43-4, SnE 1931, 112, SnE 1998, I, 32.

Context: As for st. 1.

Notes: [All]: According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 1), after Loki had hurled the pole at the eagle, the latter managed to jerk away and fly up, with one end stuck fast in his body and the other end to Loki’s hands. — [1, 4] fóstra ǫndurgoðs ‘the fosterer of the ski-deity [= Skaði > = Þjazi]’: See Note to st. 5/2, 4. — [2] farmr arma Sigvinjar ‘the cargo of the arms [LOVER] of Sigyn <goddess> [= Loki]’: Sigyn was Loki’s wife (cf. SnE 2005, 27); there are a number of similarly formed kennings for the wives or mistresses of supernatural figures in the skaldic corpus (cf. Meissner 252-3, 255). The reference to Sigyn here may well be a pointed one; see the following Note and Holtsmark (1949, 26). The more archaic form of the name (Sigvinjar rather than Sigynjar) is required by the metre (see Note to Bragi Rdr 2/3-4). — [3, 4] sás ǫll regin eygja í bǫndum ‘the one whom all the divine powers eye in bonds’: This rel. clause allows Þjóðólfr to look forward in mythic time to when Loki was punished by the gods for his part (according to some sources, e.g. SnE 2005, 48-9) in bringing about the death of Óðinn’s and Frigg’s son Baldr. Gylf (SnE 2005, 49) gives a detailed account of how the Æsir bound Loki to three stone slabs within a cave, where Skaði (perhaps to pay Loki back for his part in the Þjazi myth narrated here) fixed a poisonous snake above him so that it dripped poison continually onto his face. Sigyn’s role was to hold a basin under the drops of poison, but, whenever she had to empty it, Loki shuddered and caused an earthquake. Thus, says Gylf, Loki will lie in bonds until Ragnarǫk. — [6] reimuð Jǫtunheima ‘haunter of Jǫtunheimar [= Þjazi]’: The lexical sense of the hap. leg. noun reimuðr is uncertain, though it has usually been associated with the phrase þar er reimt ‘the place is haunted’ (cf. LP: reimuðr; Holtsmark 1949, 26-7). Kock (NN §158), however, suggests it means ‘one who rises high’, a term for a giant represented as large of stature. Jǫtunheimar (pl.) is the world of the giants, imagined in Old Norse cosmology as north (cf. st. 10/4 sunnan ‘from the south’, the direction from which Iðunn comes) or east of the gods’ home Ásgarðr.

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
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. 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.
6. 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.
7. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Holtsmark, Anne. 1949. ‘Myten om Idun og Tjatse i Tjodolvs Haustlǫng’. ANF 64, 1-73.
11. Internal references
12. (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 26 April 2024)
13. (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 26 April 2024)
14. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Ragnarsdrápa 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. 30.