Þul Orrostu 1^III

Þau eru heiti:         hjaldr ok rimma,
Gǫll, Geirahǫð         ok Geirþriful,
róg ok róma,         Randgríðr ok storð,
Svipul ok snerra,         sig, folk, jara.

Þau eru heiti: hjaldr ok rimma, Gǫll, Geirahǫð ok Geirþriful, róg ok róma, Randgríðr ok storð, Svipul ok snerra, sig, folk, jara.

These are the heiti: din and fray, Gǫll, Geirahǫð and Geirþriful, strife and clash, Randgríðr and tumult, Svipul and fight, battle, war, attack.

Mss: R(42v), Tˣ(44v), C(12r), A(18v), B(8v), 744ˣ(66r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Þau: Þessi C, ‘[…]nn’ B, Enn 744ˣ    [2] hjaldr ok rimma: hildr ok róma C, ‘híalldr ok ri[…]’ B, ‘híalldr ok rimma’ 744ˣ    [3] Gǫll: gjǫll A, ‘[…]’ B, ‘gio᷎ll’ 744ˣ;    Geirahǫð: geira hríð B    [4] Geir‑: gerr‑ C;    ‑þriful: ‑þrimul Tˣ    [5] róma: rimma C    [6] Randgríðr: so C, ranngríð R, Tˣ, randgnið A, B;    storð: ‘stor[…]’ B, ‘stord’ 744ˣ    [7] Svipul: ‘[…]ípul’ B, ‘suípul’ 744ˣ    [8] sig: sik C, ‘si[…]’ B, sig 744ˣ;    folk jara: so C, folkjara R, Tˣ, A, ‘fio᷎lkara’ B

Editions: Skj AI, 662, Skj BI, 663, Skald I, 327, NN §2748 G; SnE 1848-87, I, 562, II, 475, 559, 619, SnE 1931, 200, SnE 1998, I, 118.

Notes: [2] hjaldr ok rimma ‘din and fray’: Ms. C gives two different heiti for ‘battle’, hildr ok róma ‘fight and clash’. See Hildr in Þul Valkyrja 2/3 and róma ‘clash’ (l. 5), which in C is replaced by rimma. — [3] Gǫll, Geirahǫð: These are names of valkyries; cf. Gǫll ok Geirahǫð in Gylf (SnE 2005, 50; see also Grí 36/6 (NK 64 n.)). Gǫll is also listed in Þul Valkyrja 1/5, but the word is never used as a heiti for ‘battle’. The only recorded meaning of gǫll f. in skaldic poetry is ‘shriek’ or ‘clang’; thus it is commonly used as a base-word in kennings for ‘battle’ (cf. LP: gǫll). Mss A and B (744ˣ) have the variant reading gjǫll f. ‘din’ (so also the LaufE mss), which is found in poetry as a heiti for ‘battle’. The heiti Geirahǫð, lit. ‘spear-fight’, is not found elsewhere except as a pers. n., but the second element (‑hǫð) is a poetic term for ‘battle’. Ms. B has the variant geira hríð ‘spears’ storm’, which is a kenning for ‘battle’ (see hríð ‘storm’ in st. 2/7). Because the LaufE mss have (normalised) hǫð, hríð is probably an innovation in B (lectio facilior). — [4] Geirþriful (f.): A hap. leg. This is most likely also the name of a valkyrie. The second element of the cpd is perhaps derived from the strong verb þrífa ‘grasp’ (hence lit. ‘one grasping a spear’). However, it is also possible that ‑þriful is a corrupt form of ‑driful (cf. Geirdriful in Þul Valkyrja 2/4). — [6] Randgríðr: This is the name of a valkyrie (see Þul Valkyrja 1/8), but it is never used as a heiti for ‘battle’. Both readings, ‑gríðr (C) and ‑gríð (R), are possible. Randgríðr may be translated as ‘shield-Gríðr’ (so Skj B; LP: Randgríðr), where Gríðr is the name of a troll-woman (see Þul Trollkvenna 1/3). Hence, this is possibly a kenning for ‘axe’. Randgríð means ‘shield-eagerness’ (so Grí 36/7; see SnE 1998, II, 373). For the A, B variant, Randgnið, see Note to Þul Valkyria 1/8. That variant is also given in LaufE. — [6] storð (f.) ‘tumult’: A hap. leg. This heiti is either derived from styrr m. ‘stir, battle’ (so Kock, NN §2748G) or it is the same word as storð ‘sapling, shoot’ (cf. the phrase falla sem storð ‘fall like a sapling’; so Sahlgren 1934, 308). — [7] Svipul: This name may mean ‘fast-moving one’, derived from the strong verb svípa ‘make a quick movement, cast a quick glance at sth.’, or it could be the f. form of the adj. svipull ‘variable, perishable, of short duration’. It is the name of a valkyrie (see Þul Valkyrja 2/2), but the word never occurs in poetry as a term for ‘battle’. — [8] sig ‘battle’: A n. (LP: sig) variant of sigr m. ‘victory’ (cf. ModIcel. sig ‘hunting, setting a dog on sby’; see AEW: sig 2). — [8] folk, jara ‘war, attack’: These must be two separate heiti (so ms. C) and not the cpd folkjara (so R, Tˣ, A), because such compounds as folkorrosta ‘battle of hosts’ are rare in skaldic poetry. Both folk n. and jara f. are poetic terms for ‘battle’. The word folk in its original sense ‘people, host’ (thus the figurative meaning ‘host’ > ‘battle’) is found in Þul Manna 5/1 and as a heiti for ‘sword’ in Þul Sverða 10/8. Ms. B has ‘fio᷎lkara’, which cannot be construed to make any sense. Interestingly, this is also the form given in the LaufE mss: ‘sigfiolkara’ papp10ˣ(49v), 2368ˣ(121), 743ˣ(92r).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. 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.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
7. 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.
8. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
9. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
12. Sahlgren, Jöran. 1934. ‘Ordet stolsteg och önamnet Stord’. In Rooth 1934, 305-11.
13. Internal references
14. (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 19 April 2024)
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Heiti valkyrja 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. 969.
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Heiti valkyrja 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. 970.
17. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Trollkvenna 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. 724.
18. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Manna heiti 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 780.
19. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 10’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 808.
20. Not published: do not cite ()
21. (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 19 April 2024)