Þul Fjarða 1^III

Fjǫrðr, Sogn, Jali,         Fold, Ófóti,
Angr, Harmr, Tregi,         Eitri, Vefsnir,
Harðangr, Stafangr,         Heyjangr ok Glaumr,
Goðmarr, Harðsær,         Grenmarr, Hroði.

Fjǫrðr, Sogn, Jali, Fold, Ófóti, Angr, Harmr, Tregi, Eitri, Vefsnir, Harðangr, Stafangr, Heyjangr ok Glaumr, Goðmarr, Harðsær, Grenmarr, Hroði.

Fjord, Sognefjorden, Jali, Oslofjorden, Ofotfjorden, Angr, Velfjorden, Tregi, Eiterfjorden, Vefsnfjorden, Hardangerfjorden, Stafangr, Høyangsfjorden and Glomfjorden, Gullmarn, Korsfjorden, Langesundsfjorden, Hroði.

Mss: A(21v) (SnE)

Editions: Skj AI, 690, Skj BI, 679, Skald I, 344; SnE 1848-87, II, 493.

Notes: [All]: Most of the Old Norse fjord-names listed in this stanza have been replaced in the course of time and often by quite different place names. In all instances where their modern equivalents are known these are given in the translation. — [1] Sogn ‘Sognefjorden’: The longest Norwegian fjord, located in Sunnmøre, western Norway. — [1] Jali: According to Rygh (1896, 30 n. 3),  Jali could have been an old name for Mossesundet in Oslofjorden, the strait which separates Jeløya (Jǫlund; see Þul Eyja 7/4), an island near Moss in Østfold, south-eastern Norway, from the mainland. Munch (1846, 84) identified it as a fjord in the Shetland Islands, namely Yell Sound, the strait between the Shetland mainland and the island of Yell (so also LP: Jali; see Jala ‘Yell’, Þul Eyja 4/8). If the latter interpretation is correct, this would be the only fjord outside Norway listed in this þula. — [2] Fold ‘Oslofjorden’: A large bay in south-eastern Norway. Cf. fold ‘land, a field of soft grass’ (CVC: fold, see also Þul Jarðar 1/5). As the name of a fjord, fold perhaps originally meant ‘broad one’ (cf. AEW, ÍO: fold). — [2] Ófóti ‘Ofotfjorden’: The longest fjord in Nordland, northern Norway. The origin of the name is unclear (cf. ÍO: Ófóti). See also Note to Þul Jǫtna II 2/6. — [3]: All the names contained in this line (ON Angr, Harmr, Tregi) have the same meaning (‘grief, sorrow’), and their occurrence in the same line is hardly accidental. — [3] Angr: In Old Norse local names the ending ‑angr was frequently used to denote ‘bay’ or ‘fjord’ (cf. Harðangr, Stafangr, Heyjangr in ll. 5, 6; ÍO: ang(u)r 1). There is no etymological relation between this word and angr m. ‘grief’ (see the Note above); hence it is impossible to say whether it is used here as a common noun (‘bay, fjord’) or as a p. n. In poetry angr occurs in a kenning for ‘gold’ (HaukrV Ísldr 15/7-8^IV) of the type eldr allra vatna ‘fire of all kinds of water’ (SnE 1998, I, 40), which, along with all sorts of sea-heiti, permitted the use of place names belonging to various rivers and fjords qualified by a term for ‘fire’. Finnur Jónsson treats Angr as a p. n. (LP: Angr 2), identifying it as the name of a branch of Hardangerfjorden. According to Munch (1846, 84), ON Angr was the name of several fjords in Norway, among them Sandesognsfjorden (present-day Sandebukta), a branch of Oslofjorden in Vestfold, where he found the name Angerskleven, the old main road that runs past the town of Holmestrand (cf. also Angersnes in Nordland, northern Norway). However that may be, Anger (< ON Angr) is no longer used as a fjord-name in Norway. — [3] Harmr ‘Velfjorden’: A fjord in the southern part of Hålogaland, northern Norway, most likely modern Velfjorden (Rygh 1896, 32) or Brønnøyfjorden in Nord-Trøndelag (Munch 1846, 84). See also Bkrepp Magndr 2/4^II. — [3] Tregi: According to Munch (1846, 84), Tregi must be Tregdefjorden near Mandal (cf. the old name Tregðasund) in Vest-Agder, southern Norway, but Rygh (1896, 35 n.) doubts that this identification is correct. The name does not occur in other poetic sources. — [4] Eitri ‘Eiterfjorden’: Located in Nærøy in Nord-Trøndelag, north-western Norway. Perhaps lit. ‘very cold one’ (see also Eitri in Þul Dverga 6/6 and Note; in RE 1665(Ff) the name is given as ‘Eitur’). Old Norse eitr (n.) means ‘poison’. — [4] Vefsnir ‘Vefsnfjorden’: Located in Hålogaland, northern Norway, north of Tjøtta (see Þul Eyja 3/7). This fjord-name is derived from Vefsn, the name of a river, lit. ‘twisting one’, cf. vefa ‘weave’ (ÍO: Vefsnir). — [5] Harðangr ‘Hardangerfjorden’: Lit. ‘bay of the Hǫrðar’ (on the meaning of -angr see Note to l. 3 above). This is the second largest fjord in Norway, located south of Bergen in Hardanger, Hordaland, western Norway. — [5] Stafangr: No longer in use as a fjord-name. Rygh (1896, 34) believed that it could be a small fjord near the town of Stavanger. — [6] Heyjangr ‘Høyangsfjorden’: A fjord branching off to the north from Sognefjorden, western Norway. — [6] Glaumr ‘Glomfjorden’: Perhaps lit. ‘noise’. A small fjord located in Hålogaland, northern Norway. — [7] Goðmarr ‘Gullmarn’: Lit. ‘sea of the gods’. Located in present-day Bohuslän, western Sweden (then a part of Norway); cf. Tindr Hákdr 11/4^I. — [7] Harðsær ‘Korsfjorden’: Lit. ‘sea of the Hǫrðar’ (cf. Harðangr, l. 5 above). Located in Sunnhordland, south of Sotra near Bergen. The modern name of the fjord is attested as early as the C16th. — [8] Grenmarr ‘Langesundsfjorden’: Lit. ‘sea of the Grenir’, Lat. Granii, a Norse tribe mentioned by Jordanes (Getica §24; see Andersson 1998a, 589). That tribe inhabited Grenland, a territory in south-eastern Norway located between Vestfold and Telemark. Grenmarr is known above all as the site of the famous naval battle of Nesjar, in which Óláfr Haraldsson defeated Jarl Sveinn Hákonarson and his allies (see ÓHHkr chs 46-50, ÍF 27, 58-67; Sigv Nesv^I). — [8] Hroði: Lit. ‘stormy one’. This fjord has not been identified. Munch (1846, 85) suggested that it might be Rosfjorden in Lyngdal in Vest-Agder, south-western Norway, but this identification has been disputed (Rygh 1896, 35 n. 1). As a fjord-heiti the name does not occur elsewhere, but see hroði ‘storm’ in Egill St 8/5^V (Eg 79) and hroði ‘coarseness’ in Anon Mhkv 29/6.

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. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
5. 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.
6. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
7. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Munch, P. A. 1846. ‘Geographiske bemærkninger, knyttede til et hidtil uudgivet stykke af den yngre Edda’. ÅNOH, 81-96; 365-7.
11. Rygh, Oluf. 1896. ‘Norske fjordnavne’. In Sproglig-historiske studier tilegnede Professor C. R. Unger, 30-86.
12. Andersson, Thorsten. 1998a. ‘Granii’. In RGA, 12, 589-90.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=152> (accessed 4 May 2024)
15. Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 29’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1242.
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jarðar heiti 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 878.
17. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Eyja heiti 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 976.
18. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Eyja heiti 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. 977.
19. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Eyja heiti 7’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 981.
20. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jǫtna heiti II 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. 721.
21. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Dverga heiti 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 704.
22. Russell Poole 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Nesjavísur’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 555. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1357> (accessed 4 May 2024)
23. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Bjǫrn krepphendi, Magnússdrápa 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 397-8.
24. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 79 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Sonatorrek 8)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 306.
25. Not published: do not cite (HaukrV Ísldr 15^IV)
26. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Tindr Hallkelsson, Hákonardrápa 11’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 356.