Þul Elds 1^III

Gims heiti vilk         greppum segja:
Ægis bróðir         ok élreka,
eldr, eimr, usli,         úði, skerkir,
hrǫtuðr ok hrótgandr,         hrímnir, eimi.

Vilk segja greppum heiti gims: bróðir Ægis ok élreka, eldr, eimr, usli, úði, skerkir, hrǫtuðr ok hrótgandr, hrímnir, eimi.

I will tell men the names for blaze: brother of Ægir <sea-giant> and of storm-driver, fire, smoke, conflagration, swarming, noise-maker, stumbler and roof-wolf, soot-maker, vapour.

Mss: A(20v), B(9v), 744ˣ(84r-v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Gims: ‘[…]jms’ B, ‘Gj́ms’ 744ˣ    [3] bróðir: bróður B    [4] ‑reka: so B, ‑reki A    [6] skerkir: herkir B    [7] hrǫtuðr: ‘hrotudr’ B;    ‑gandr: ‑garðr B    [8] hrímnir: hrímir B

Editions: Skj AI, 684, Skj BI, 674, Skald I, 339; SnE 1848-87, II, 486, 569.

Notes: [1] heiti gims ‘the names for blaze’: The beginning of the þula is of a rare type because the first heiti in the list, gim n. ‘blaze, fire’, (its ‘title’) is not a common word but a poetic one that is not used in prose. — [3-4] bróðir Ægis ok élreka ‘brother of Ægir <sea-giant> and of storm-driver’: Here, as in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 39), fire (eldr), wind (élreki) and sea (Ægir) are represented as three brothers, sons of the giant Fornjótr (see Notes to Þul Jǫtna I 3/5, Þul Veðra 1/8 and Sveinn Norðrdr 2/2). In Skm (loc. cit.), fire is also called bróðir vinds ok Ægis ‘brother of the wind and of Ægir’ (for Ægir see Þul Sjóvar 1/2). Thus the m. nom. élreki ‘storm-driver’ in A is incorrect, since this is a term for ‘wind’ and not for ‘fire’ (cf. Þul Veðra 1/2), and the B variant élreka (gen.) has been adopted here. Neither of these poetic terms, which are rather mythological kennings than heiti, is otherwise used in poetry. The B variant bróður ‘brother’ (here most likely in the gen.) may indicate a connection with heiti gims ‘the names for blaze’ in l. 1 and suggests that, in B, ll. 3-4 were regarded as belonging to the introductory clause of the þula rather than to the list of fire-heiti proper (‘I will tell men the names of blaze, of the brother of Ægir and of storm-driver’). It seems that Þul Elds, like most other þulur, originally started with the most common term for ‘fire’, i.e. eldr (cf. the initial position of this word in l. 5), while the introduction (ll. 1-4) was probably an addition by a later compiler (cf. Gurevich 2008, 356-9). — [6] úði (m.) ‘swarming’: A hap. leg. Cf. ModIcel. úði ‘drizzling rain’. According to AEW: úði, the word may be related to ýja, úa ‘swarm’ (hence úði perhaps refers to flying sparks). For a different interpretation, see Holthausen (1948, 325). — [6] skerkir (m.) ‘noise-maker’: Agent noun from a weak verb *skerkja ‘make noise’ (see Note to Þul Sverða 2/1). It is also the name of a giant (Þul Jǫtna I 4/4). Ms. B has the synonymous word herkir (from hark ‘tumult’; cf. harkr ‘crackling one’, st. 3/4 below), which, like the name Skerkir, is also found among the giant-names (Þul Jǫtna I 2/3). Neither of these heiti is otherwise used in poetry. RE 1665 has herkir (‘Herkier’) but omits skerkir, which could indicate that the latter is an innovation in A. — [7] hrǫtuðr (m.) ‘stumbler’: A hap. leg.; an agent noun derived from the weak verb hrata ‘stagger, fall, tumble’. Skj B and Skald have hvǫtuðr ‘instigator, inciter’, which could be an error (the reason for the emendation is unclear). — [7] hrótgandr (m.) ‘roof-wolf’: A cpd not attested elsewhere and a kenning for ‘fire’ (cf. ÞjóðA Sex 21/8^II hrótgarmr ‘roof-hound [FIRE]’). — [8] hrímnir (m.) ‘soot-maker’: The heiti is possibly derived from hrím n. ‘soot’ (cf. the B variant hrímir). Alternatively, hrímnir could be interpreted as ‘noise-maker’; if so, the word is related to hreimr m. ‘scream, cry’. Hrímnir is also the name of a giant (see Þul Jǫtna I 1/5 and Note there) and a heiti for ‘boar’ and ‘hawk’ (Þul Galtar l. 2, Þul Hauks 1/4). The word is never used as a fire-heiti. In RE 1665, this heiti is rendered as ‘Hrymur’, i.e. Hrymr, the name of a giant in Vsp 50/1, which could be a corruption of hrímir (the B variant) but hardly of hrímnir.

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. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
6. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
7. Holthausen, Ferdinand. 1948. Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altwestnordischen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
8. Gurevich, Elena A. 2008. ‘K voprosu o sootnoshenii dvukh redakci tul poeticheskikh sinonimov v Mladshey Edde’ [‘Towards the Problem of Relationship between the Two Versions of þulur-lists in Snorra Edda’]’. In Mikhailova et al. 2008, 351-69.
9. Internal references
10. (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 24 April 2024)
11. Not published: do not cite ()
12. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jǫtna heiti I 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. 707.
13. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jǫtna heiti I 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. 710.
14. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jǫtna heiti I 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. 713.
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 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. 791.
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Veðra 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. 918.
17. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hauks 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. 941.
18. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sjóvar 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. 833.
19. Not published: do not cite ()
20. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Galtar heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 900. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3215> (accessed 24 April 2024)
21. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Elds heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 920. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3234> (accessed 24 April 2024)
22. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Sveinn, Norðrsetudrápa 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. 400.
23. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 21’ 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. 135-6.