Feima Lv 1VIII (GrL 2)
Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2017, ‘Gríms saga loðinkinna 2 (Feima Hrímnisdóttir, Lausavísa 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 290.
Feima ‘Feima’
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feima (noun f.): lass
notes
[1] Feima: Several mss (1006ˣ, 173ˣ, 342ˣ, 109a IIˣ) offer the reading Finna ‘Saami woman’, a variant which makes use of the associations between the north and the Finnar (Saami people), who were credited with magical powers (see Nesheim 1970, 7-14; cf. the power ascribed to the father of Feima and Kleima in GrL 4). Occasionally one and the same figure is described both as giant and Saami, for example the father of Snjófríðr ‘Snow-Beauty’ in HHárf ch. 35 (ÍF 26, 125-7). Snjófríðr herself is called finna in Anon Mhkv 11/6III. Nevertheless Feima is the preferred reading, not only because it occurs in the two oldest mss but also because it rhymes with Kleima, a name which only occurs here: there are several other Old Norse examples of siblings whose names rhyme with one another (cf. Kommentar III, 870 and a further example in Gautr, FSGJ 4, 4-5). The word feima occurs as a name in Rþ 25/6 (one of the daughters of Karl, the progenitor of the peasant class) and is used elsewhere as a poetic term for ‘woman’ (LP: feima). The etymology of the word is unclear (AEW: feima), but in Skm the word feima is said to connote shyness (SnE 1998, I, 107; cf. Note to Þul Kvenna I l. 4III). If the name Feima in GrL evokes such associations then it is manifestly ironic, since it stands in great contrast to the bold and ‘forward’ behaviour of the two giantesses, cf. Feima’s description of her sister Kleima as hálfu fremri ‘twice as courageous’ (as herself).
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
heiti ‘am called’
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2. heita (verb): be called, promise
fædd ‘born’
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2. fœða (verb): to feed, give food to, bring up, bear, give birth to
var ‘was’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
norðarla ‘in northern parts’
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norðarla (adv.)
Hrímnis ‘Hrímnir’
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Hrímnir (noun m.): Hrímnir, sooty one
notes
[3] dóttir Hrímnis ‘daughter of Hrímnir <giant>’: The name Hrímnir is well-attested as a common name for a giant; the earliest example occurs in the giantess-kenning drós Hrímnis ‘woman of Hrímnir’ in Eil Þdr 18/6III. Since the name Hrímnir is derived from hrím which can mean both ‘(hoar)frost’ and ‘soot’, it is not clear whether Hrímnir means ‘Frosty’ or ‘Sooty’; cf. Þul Jǫtna I 1/5III. See Note to Ket 13/1-3.
dóttir ‘daughter of’
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dóttir (noun f.; °dóttur, dat. dóttur/dǿtr/dóttir, acc. dóttur/dóttir, nom. dóttir/dóttur; dǿtr, gen. dǿtra (cf. [$1592$])): daughter
notes
[3] dóttir Hrímnis ‘daughter of Hrímnir <giant>’: The name Hrímnir is well-attested as a common name for a giant; the earliest example occurs in the giantess-kenning drós Hrímnis ‘woman of Hrímnir’ in Eil Þdr 18/6III. Since the name Hrímnir is derived from hrím which can mean both ‘(hoar)frost’ and ‘soot’, it is not clear whether Hrímnir means ‘Frosty’ or ‘Sooty’; cf. Þul Jǫtna I 1/5III. See Note to Ket 13/1-3.
ór ‘from’
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3. ór (prep.): out of
háfjalli ‘the high mountain’
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háfjall (noun n.)
Hér ‘Here’
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hér (adv.): here
er ‘’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
systir ‘sister’
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systir (noun f.; °systur; systur): sister
mín ‘my’
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minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my
hálfu ‘twice as’
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halfa (noun f.; °*-u; *-ur): [part, twice]
fremri ‘courageous’
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framr (adj.; °compar. framari/fremri, superl. framastr/fremstr): outstanding, foremost
Kleima ‘Kleima’
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1. kleima (noun f.): °klat, plet
notes
[7] Kleima: This name is considered to be etymologically related to the Old Norse verb kleima ‘besmear, besmirch’ (HálfdEyst ch. 16, FSGJ 4, 271), and to the synonymous verb klæma used figuratively in the sense ‘shame, mock’ (AEW: kleima; ÍO: 1 kleima). In New Norwegian dialects the noun kleima denotes something ‘sticky’ or a person who is slow (cf. also the New Norwegian verb kleima ‘stick’), while the noun kleim variously refers to a person who is ‘forward’ or ‘clumsy’ (cf. Ross 1895-1913: kleim; Aasen 2003: kleima and Kleima; NO: I kleima and kleime). In Modern Icelandic the noun kleima means ‘blotch, scratch’. All of these words are pejorative; if the name Kleima was understood to mean anything (and not simply invented to rhyme with Feima), then it may perhaps have been interpreted as ‘smear, blotch’ (cf. the characterisation of the milkmaid Beyla in Lok 56).
at ‘by’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
nafni ‘name’
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nafn (noun n.; °-s; *-): name
komin ‘has come’
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koma (verb; kem, kom/kvam, kominn): come
til ‘to’
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til (prep.): to
sjóvar ‘the sea-shore’
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sjór (noun m.): sea
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
In the saga this stanza follows GrL 1 and is introduced by the words: Sú kvað vísu, er nær honum stóð ‘The one [i.e. the giantess] who stood near him spoke a stanza’.
[1-2]: With the exception of the name Feima these lines are identical in wording to Ket 17/1-2, in which the troll-woman Forað identifies herself (in a similar episode) in answer to a question put to her by Grímr’s father Ketill.
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