Þul Viðar 1^III

Viðr, yllir, tág,         víðir, selja,
pors, mǫrk, ǫlviðr,         plóma, spíra,
bjǫrk, viðvindill,         beinn, fjallhrapi,
búss, hlynr ok bók,         beinviðr, mǫpurr.

Viðr, yllir, tág, víðir, selja, pors, mǫrk, ǫlviðr, plóma, spíra, bjǫrk, viðvindill, beinn, fjallhrapi, búss, hlynr ok bók, beinviðr, mǫpurr.

Tree, elder, root fibre, willow, sallow, sweet gale, forest, alder, plum-tree, sapling, birch, honeysuckle, holly, dwarf birch, box-tree, maple and beech, holly, maple.

Mss: A(19v), B(9r), 744ˣ(78v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Viðr: ‘[…]idr’ B, Viðr 744ˣ;    yllir: ‘vllír’ B    [3] pors: ‘pass’ B    [6] beinn: basinn B    [8] mǫpurr: ‘mo᷎surr’ B

Editions: Skj AI, 682, Skj BI, 673, Skald I, 338; SnE 1848-87, II, 482-83, 566.

Notes: [All]: Some of the tree-heiti listed here are not found in other Old Norse sources, namely, yllir m. ‘elder’ (l. 1), ǫlviðr m. ‘alder’ (l. 3), beinn m. ‘holly’ (l. 6), mǫpurr m. ‘maple’ (l. 8). The following words do not appear elsewhere in poetry: víðir m. ‘willow’ (l. 2), pors m. ‘sweet gale’ (l. 3), viðvindill m. ‘honeysuckle’ (l. 5), fjallhrapi m. ‘dwarf birch’ (l. 6), bók f. ‘beech’ (l. 7), beinviðr m. ‘holly’ (l. 8). — [1] tág (f.) ‘root fibre’: Cf. ModIcel. tág, ModNorw. tåg ‘root fibre, slender root’. — [2] víðir (m.) ‘willow’: In Old Norse, the word appears in place names from the time of the settlement of Iceland, e.g. in Vatnsdœla saga (ch. 14, ÍF 8, 39): [Þá mælti Ingimundr: “Sjá dalr er mjǫk víði vaxinn;] kǫllum hann Víðidal” ‘[Then Ingimundr said: “That valley is much overgrown with willows;] we’ll call it Víðidalr (‘Willow-dale’)”’. In Iceland, víðir is willow-scrub, dwarf-willow (Salix repens), used for thatching and fodder (CVC: víðir; cf. ModNorw. vier ‘willow’). — [2] selja (f.) ‘sallow’: In Old Norse, the word occurs mostly in poetry (see also Note to st. 2/2 below). Cf. ModNorw. selje ‘goat willow, pussy willow’ (Salix caprea). — [3] pors (m.) ‘sweet gale’: Myrica gale, also known as bog myrtle. This plant was earlier used for beer brewing. — [4] plóma (f.) ‘plum-tree’: This tree-name occurs as the base-word of a woman-kenning in Anon Mey 46/4^VII. — [6] beinn (m.) ‘holly’: A hap. leg. The heiti is either a variant of beinviðr ‘holly’ (see l. 8 below and ÍO: beinn 1) or derived from the adj. beinn ‘straight’ (see AEW: beinn 1). The B variant ‘basinn’ is not attested elsewhere (Finnur Jónsson 1917, 190), but cf. New Norw. bas, base ‘bushes, underbrush’ (< Gmc *basīna-; see ÍO: basinn). The LaufE mss have baun ‘bean’, which appears to be a lectio facilior but could indicate that the A variant is corrupt as well. — [6] fjallhrapi (m.) ‘dwarf birch’: Betula nana. The first element of this cpd is fjall- ‘mountain’ and the second is derived from Gmc. *hrep- ‘bend, catch’. The Modern Icelandic form (from C18th) is fjalldrapi (ÍO: fjalldrapi; so also RE 1665). — [7] búss (m.) ‘box-tree’: This heiti could be a loan-word from MLG buss-(bōm) < Lat. buxus ‘box-tree’ (AEW: búss 1). In Old Norse, the word occurs only in skaldic poetry. — [8] beinviðr (m.) ‘holly’: Ilex aquifolium. Other than in this þula, the earliest attestation of this word in Old Norse is in Konungs skuggsjá (Holm-Olsen 1983, 22), where it is mentioned in the section which describes the marvels of Ireland (see Introduction to Anon Þulur). It is likely that the word was also used with a broader sense, ‘very hard wood’ (ONP: beinviðr). Cf. also beinn ‘holly’ (l. 6). — [8] mǫpurr (m.) ‘maple’: This term does not occur elsewhere in Old Norse texts, but it is the same word as ModIcel. möpur (cf. OE mapuldor, ModEngl. maple). This tree-name seems to be a conflation of ON mǫsurr ‘burl’ (st. 3/5 below and the B variant) and apaldr ‘apple-tree’ (Wood 1914, 315).

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. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
6. ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.
7. Holm-Olsen, Ludvig, ed. 1983. Konungs skuggsiá. 2nd rev. edn. Norrøne tekster 1. Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt.
8. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
9. ÍF 8 = Vatnsdœla saga. Ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson. 1939.
10. Finnur Jónsson. 1917. Review of Hjalmar Falk. 1914. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II, Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, no. 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad. ANF 33, 189-92.
11. Wood, Francis A. 1914. ‘Germanic Etymologies’. MP 11, 315-38.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Anonymous, Vatnsdœla saga’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=128> (accessed 23 April 2024)
14. Kirsten Wolf (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Heilagra meyja drápa 46’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 919-20.
15. Not published: do not cite ()
16. (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 23 April 2024)