ÚlfrU Húsdr 4^III

En stirðþinull starði
storðar leggs fyr borði
fróns á folka reyni
fránleitr ok blés eitri.

En {fránleitr stirðþinull storðar} starði á {reyni {folka {leggs fróns}}} fyr borði ok blés eitri.

And {the flashing-eyed stiff cord of the earth} [= Miðgarðsormr] stared at {the tester {of the peoples {of the bone of the earth}}} [ROCK > GIANTS > = Þórr] below the ship’s side and blew poison.

Mss: R(37r), R(33v), Tˣ(34v), Tˣ(38v), W(76), U(32r), A(10v), A(13r), C(4v), C(6v) (SnE); 2368ˣ(113) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] En: ‘[…]’ R(33v);    stirð‑: ‘[…]’ R(33v), stríð‑ Tˣ(34v), Tˣ(38v), ‘stir‑’ A(10v), A(13r);    ‑þinull starði: ‘[…]þi’ R(33v), ‘‑malogr st[…]’ U    [2] storðar: ‘st[…]þar’ R(33v);    leggs: so W, U, legs R(37r), R(33v), Tˣ(34v), Tˣ(38v), mens A(10v), A(13r), leygs C(4v), C(6v);    fyr: ‘[…]’ R(33v);    borði: ‘[…]’ R(33v), ‘borþ[…]’ U    [3] fróns á: ‘[…]ns a’ R(33v), forns á Tˣ(38v), ‘[…]’ U, ‘frans a’ C(4v)    [4] frán‑: fram‑ 2368ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 137, Skj BI, 129, Skald I, 71; SnE 1848-87, I, 412-15, 474-7, II, 325, 436, 585, 593, III, 74-5, 98, SnE 1931, 147, 168, SnE 1998, I, 65, 86-7; LaufE 1979, 371.

Context: The helmingr is cited in Skm (SnE) and LaufE among stanzas illustrating kennings for ‘man’ and again in Skm exemplifying a heiti for ‘land’ (here, frón).

Notes: [All]: A closely matching helmingr is found in Bragi Þórr 4, which even uses the same verb, starði ‘stared’. The kennings are also very similar: Þórr is called haussprengir Hrungnis ‘skull-splitter of Hrungnir <giant>’ (Bragi Þórr 4/3) and the World Serpent hringr brautar borðróins barða ‘ring of the road of the side-rowed ship [SEA > = Miðgarðsormr]’ (Bragi Þórr 4/1-2). — [4] fránleitr ‘flashing-eyed’: The word fránn ‘flashing, gleaming’ is an adj. used especially in connection with serpents (Marold 1998a, 11-13).

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. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
5. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
6. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
7. Marold, Edith. 1998a. ‘Die Augen des Herrschers’. In Meier 1998, 7-29.
8. Internal references
9. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
10. (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)
11. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Þórr’s fishing 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 50.
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ 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=10928> (accessed 26 April 2024)