Þul Manna 2^III

Bragnar, þegnar,         beimar, hǫlðar,
firar ok flotnar,         fyrðar, hǫlðar,
fǫruneyti, drótt,         flokkr, harðmenni,
kníar ok kappar,         kenpur, nautar.

Bragnar, þegnar, beimar, hǫlðar, firar ok flotnar, fyrðar, hǫlðar, fǫruneyti, drótt, flokkr, harðmenni, kníar ok kappar, kenpur, nautar.

Noble ones, freemen, warriors, freeholders, vital ones and seamen, vital ones, freeholders, company, retinue, flock, tough ones, kníar and champions, fighters, mates.

Mss: R(42v), Tˣ(44v), C(11v), A(18r), B(8v), 744ˣ(64r) (SnE)

Readings: [3] ok: om. Tˣ;    flotnar: hǫlðar C, ‘flotn[…]’ B, ‘flotnar’ 744ˣ    [4] fyrðar hǫlðar: fyrðar Tˣ, flotnar fyrðar C, ‘[…]o᷎ldar’ B, ‘fýrdar ho᷎ldar’ 744ˣ    [7] kníar: ‘[…]ar’ B, ‘kniar’ 744ˣ;    ok: om. Tˣ, ‘[…]’ B, ok 744ˣ;    kappar: ‘[…]’ B, kappar 744ˣ    [8] kenpur: kempr Tˣ, kempur A, ‘[…]ur’ B, kempur 744ˣ;    nautar: ‘n[…]ar’ B, nautar 744ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 660, Skj BI, 661-2, Skald I, 326, NN §2160; SnE 1848-87, I, 558-9, II, 474, 557-8, 617, SnE 1931, 198, SnE 1998, I, 116.

Notes: [1] bragnar ‘noble ones’: A poetic term for ‘men’ used only in the pl. form. In Skm (SnE 1998, I, 105), bragnar were the warriors of King Bragi inn gamli ‘the Old’, but the term is derived from bragr m. ‘the best, foremost’ (AEW: bragningr: bragr 1). See also bragningr as a heiti for ‘king’ (Þul Konunga 1/5). — [1] þegnar ‘freemen’: Pl. of þegn m. ‘thane, freeman’ (see Goetting 2006). In Rþ 24/4, Þegn is one of the sons of Karl. Cf. also the formulaic legal phrase þegn ok þræll ‘freeman and bondman’, i.e. ‘all men’. According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 106), þegn is a term for ‘landowner’: Þegnar ok hǫlðar, svá eru búendr kallaðir ‘Þegnar and hǫlðar, this is what landowners are called’ (cf. Faulkes 1987, 151). As a legal term the word also means ‘liegeman, subject’, but in poetry it is most often used in the more general sense ‘warrior, man’. See also OE þegn, OHG thegan ‘follower, retainer, warrior’ and OS thegan ‘follower, child, boy’ (AEW: þegn). — [2] beimar ‘warriors’: This poetic term is used only in the pl. form and translates as ‘warriors, men, heroes’. According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 105), beimar were the followers of King Beimuni (see Notes to Þul Sea-kings ll. 4, 8). The etymology of this word is uncertain, but it may be cognate with the name of a Germanic tribe mentioned by Ptolemy as Βαῖμοι (AEW: beimar). — [2] hǫlðar ‘freeholders’: Pl. of hǫlðr m. This is an Old Norse legal term which denoted a high-ranking yeoman who by right of birth held property under the Norwegian allodial system (óðal). See Note to Anon Nkt 15/2^II. According to the law of S. Óláfr, Icelanders enjoyed the right of a hǫlðr while in Norway (DI I, 65: jslendingar eigo at hava hꜹldz rétt i noregi). In Rþ 24/4, Hǫlðr is the name of one of the sons of Karl. In poetry hǫlðar means ‘men’ in general. — [3, 4] firar ok flotnar, fyrðar ‘vital ones and seamen, vital ones’: These are poetic terms for ‘men’ or ‘warriors’ used only in the pl. form. Firar is derived from fjǫr n. ‘life’, hence ‘vital ones’, and fyrðar (also firðar) from firar (AEW: firar; fyrðar). In Skm (SnE 1998, I, 105), fyrðar and firar are ‘defenders of the land’ (landvarnarmenn) and flotnar ‘seamen’ (from floti m. ‘fleet, ship’) belong to a naval force (skipaherr). — [4] hǫlðar ‘freeholders’: The repetition of the heiti hǫlðar, which was already mentioned in l. 2, is probably caused by dittography. Kock (NN §2160) suggests that the correct word in this context could have been aldir ‘men, people’ (pl. of ǫld ‘age, population’; see st. 3/1). — [6] harðmenni ‘tough ones’: This is a collective n. noun, lit. ‘hardy men’ (from the adj. harðr ‘hard’ and maðr, mannr m. ‘man’). The word is found only in this þula and in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 106), where it is listed among other heroic names (such as kappar, kempur, etc.; cf. the heiti in the next two lines). — [7] kníar: The term occurs only in the pl. form. Other than in the þulur, the word is found in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 106), where kníar are mentioned among fylgðarmenn ‘members of a retinue’, and in Egill Arkv 11/3^V (Eg 107). This heiti is possibly related to kind f. ‘offspring’ and kyn n. ‘kin’ (AEW: kníar). — [7, 8] kappar, kenpur ‘champions, fighters’: Pl. forms of kappi m. (from kapp n. ‘impetuosity, competitive spirit’) and kenpa (or kempa) f. ‘champion’. The latter heiti does not occur in poetry and is most likely a loanword (< MLG kempe or OE cempa ‘champion’).

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. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
6. DI = Jón Sigurðsson and Jón Þorkelsson et al., eds. 1857-1976. Diplomatarium Islandicum. Íslenzkt fornbréfasafn. 16 vols. Copenhagen: Möller; Reykjavík: Félagsprentsmiðju.
7. Faulkes, Anthony, trans. 1987. Snorri Sturluson. Edda. Everyman’s Library. London and Rutland, Vermont: J. M. Dent & Sons and Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc. Rpt. with new chronology and synopsis 2005.
8. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
9. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Goetting, Lauren. 2006. ‘Þegn and drengr in the Viking Age’. SS 78, 375-404.
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 27 April 2024)
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 15’ 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, p. 771.
14. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Heiti for sea-kings’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 987. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1045> (accessed 27 April 2024)
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Konunga 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. 687.
16. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 107 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Arinbjarnarkviða 11)’ 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. 347.
17. Not published: do not cite ()