Þul Sverða 10^III

Oddr, blóðvarta         ok benknúar,
blóðrefill, blóðvarp         ok blóðiða,
blóðvaka, ljúgfengr         ok blóðhnefi,
iðvarp ok brandr,         eggteinar, folk.

Oddr, blóðvarta ok benknúar, blóðrefill, blóðvarp ok blóðiða, blóðvaka, ljúgfengr ok blóðhnefi, iðvarp ok brandr, eggteinar, folk.

Point, blóðvarta and wound-knuckles, sword-point, blood-warp and blood-eddy, blood-wake, fail-striking one and blood-fist, repeated-warp and blade, edge-rims, army.

Mss: R(43r), Tˣ(45r), C(12r), A(18v), B(8v), 744ˣ(68v-69r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Oddr: ‘[…]ddr’ B, Oddr 744ˣ    [3] blóðrefill: om. Tˣ    [4] ok: om. C;    blóðiða: om. Tˣ, ‘blódidía’ C, ‘blodi[…]’ B, blóðiða 744ˣ    [5] blóðvaka: blóðvarta A, ‘[…]’ B, om. 744ˣ;    ljúgfengr: ‘[…]gfe[…]ngr’ B, ‘..gfenngr’ 744ˣ    [7] ‑varp: so C, A, B, ‑hvarf R, ‘‑þuarr’ Tˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 664, Skj BI, 664, Skald I, 329, NN §2565A; SnE 1848-87, I, 567-8, II, 477, 560, 620, SnE 1931, 202, SnE 1998, I, 120.

Notes: [All]: In mss A and B the last section of the þula has the heading (normalised) Heiti á sverði ‘Names for parts of a sword’ (so A and 744ˣ; in B it is almost illegible: ‘Heiti […]d[…]’). In mss R and Tˣ the beginning of this section is marked with a capital letter, while in C it is separated from the previous list by a vertical line. Regardless of the new topic specified in the title, along with the terms for the parts of a sword, the list contains some heiti for ‘sword’ as well. Five of the heiti in this stanza are recorded in LaufE and introduced by (normalised) Á sverði heitir ‘Parts of the sword are called’, indicating that they were copied from a ms. of the A, B redaction (the variants themselves are inconclusive). — [1-2]: To avoid a non-alliterating word in the first lift, Kock reorders the heiti as Blóðvarta, oddr | ok benknúar (NN §2565A; Skald). — [1] blóðvarta (f.): An otherwise unattested cpd of uncertain meaning. The first element is blóð n. ‘blood’, and the second means ‘wart’, but it is also attested as a term for something on a ship (see Þul Skipa 8/6 and Notes to Arn Hryn 4/6^II and Þsvart Lv 1/7^II). Falk (1914b, 20 n. 1) tentatively suggests that the word in the present context denotes a strip of patterning on a sword-blade (see also SnE 1998, II, 247). Cf. vartari ‘band’ (see ÍO: varta 2). — [2] benknúar (m. pl.) ‘wound-knuckles’: A cpd not found elsewhere. Falk’s (1914b, 27) suggestion that knúar ‘knuckles’ may refer to hollow knobs on sword-hilts that contained medicine to treat wounds (ben) is not persuasive. See also SnE 1998, II, 242. — [3, 4] blóðvarp ok blóðiða ‘blood-warp and blood-eddy’: Both compounds are f. and they are not attested elsewhere. According to Falk (1914b, 19-20), these terms describe ornamentation of various forms decorating a sword-blade. The second element in blóðvarp must be varp ‘warp (in weaving)’, cf. ModIcel., ModNorw. varp ‘warp’. See also SnE 1998, II, 247. — [5] blóðvaka (f.) ‘blood-wake’: The first element of this cpd is blóð n. ‘blood’ and the second is vaka f. ‘wake, watch’ (cf. ModIcel. blóðvaka ‘bleeding’). According to Falk (1914b, 11 n. 1), the word probably denotes a sword’s point (see also SnE 1998, II, 247). Cf. vekja blóð ‘awaken blood’, i.e. make blood flow. The word does not occur elsewhere as a term for a part of a sword. — [5] ljúgfengr (m.) ‘fail-striking one’: This otherwise unattested cpd most likely refers to an unreliable weapon (SnE 1998, II, 348; cf. ljúgandi hǫgg ‘missing blow’). The first element of the cpd is the stem of the strong verb ljúga ‘lie’ and the second is the adj. ‑fengr ‘obtained’ from the strong verb fá in the sense ‘reach, get at’ (AEW: 3. -fengr; Heggstad et al. 2008: fá 4; see also missifengr ‘mis-hitting one’ in st. 11/4 below and such compounds as bráðfengr ‘quickly obtained’ and seinfengr ‘slowly obtained’). According to Falk (1914b, 55), this term is a sword-heiti and not the name of some part of a sword. — [6] blóðhnefi (m.) ‘blood-fist’: An otherwise unattested cpd. The word could refer to a sword-hilt of a certain shape or with a certain decoration (Falk 1914b, 22). See also hnefi ‘fist’ (st. 4/8). — [7] iðvarp (n.) ‘repeated-warp’: So A, B, C; a cpd not attested elsewhere. The first element in this cpd, ið-, is an intensifying particle (= Lat. re-) mostly used in poetic compounds; for ‑varp, see Note to blóðvarp ‘blood-warp’ (l. 3 above). This variant is preferred by Falk (1914b, 20), Skj B and Skald. Ms. R has iðhvarf n. ‘repeated-turn’ (adopted in SnE 1998, II, 328). Both words possibly refer to the patterning on a sword-blade. — [8] eggteinar (m. pl.) ‘edge-rims’: This word is in the pl. and denotes rims of steel welded to the twisted core of the early European sword. The term does not occur in poetry, but it is known from prose sources (Falk 1914b, 17). — [8] folk (n.) ‘army’: This is probably not a term for a part of a sword, and perhaps the implied meaning of this heiti is ‘sword’ (or it might be an error). It is difficult to explain the semantic development of folk ‘army, warriors’ > ‘sword’, which does not fit the common pattern of pars pro toto (for the discussion of this heiti, see Richardson 1975 and Faulkes in SnE 2007, 65 n. 60/8). Richardson and Faulkes believe that the compiler of the þula may have included this word in the list of sword-heiti owing to a misunderstanding of the line folk í dreyra ‘the army in blood’ in GunnLeif Merl I 66/6^VIII, where folk most likely means ‘army’ and not ‘sword’. See also folk ‘war’ (Þul Orrostu 1/8).

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. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
8. Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
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. Richardson, Peter. 1975. ‘On the Meaning of Old Icelandic folk’. Semasia 2, 261-70.
12. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
13. Internal references
14. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Orrostu 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. 786.
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Skipa heiti 8’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 873.
16. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 4’ 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. 187-9.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorbjǫrn svarti, Lausavísa 1’ 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. 624-5.
18. (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 20 April 2024)