Þul Elds 3^III

Freki, olgr, seti,         feykir, ysja,
hrǫðuðr ok hǫrfir,         harkr, forbrennir,
hrapi, myln, logi,         hripuðr, aldrnari,
kyndr, bál, væginn,         kveykir ok búði.

Freki, olgr, seti, feykir, ysja, hrǫðuðr ok hǫrfir, harkr, forbrennir, hrapi, myln, logi, hripuðr, aldrnari, kyndr, bál, væginn, kveykir ok búði.

Greedy one, noise-maker, sitter, rusher, bustler, hurrying one and retreating one, crackling one, destroyer, tumbling one, flash, flame, hastener, life-nourisher, kindled one, pyre, moving one, quickener and dweller.

Mss: A(20v), B(9v), 744ˣ(84v-85r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] olgr: so B, ǫlgr A    [3] hrǫðuðr: hróðugr B    [5] hrapi: ‘[…]’ B, ‘hrape’ 744ˣ    [6] aldrnari: ‘alld[…]nare’ B, ‘alldrnare’ 744ˣ    [8] kveykir: ‘kueyktr’ B;    búði: ‘buse’ B

Editions: Skj AI, 684, Skj BI, 674-5, Skald I, 339; SnE 1848-87, II, 486, 570.

Notes: [All]: Many heiti in this stanza are hap. leg.: seti ‘sitter’ (l. 1), feykir ‘rusher’ (l. 2), hǫrfir ‘retreating one’ (l. 3), harkr ‘crackling one’ (l. 4), hrapi ‘tumbling one’, myln ‘flash’ (l. 5), kyndr ‘kindled one’, væginn ‘moving one’ (l. 7), kveykir ‘quickener’ (l. 8). — [1] freki (m.) ‘greedy one’: This weak m. noun is never used as a term for ‘fire’. Since Freki is primarely known as the name of Óðinn’s wolf (see Þul Vargs 1/5) the word could be interpreted as a half-kenning here (cf. hrótgandr ‘roof-wolf’, st. 1/7 above). See also Þul Skipa 3/1. — [1] olgr (m.) ‘noise-maker’: So B. Cf. ModIcel. ólga ‘make noise, foam’ (see also Þul Hauks 2/7, Þul Óðins 6/7 and Þul Øxna 3/5). The heiti is formed according to the semantic pattern ‘noise-maker’, which was regularly used in the þulur for a wide range of referents (see Gurevich 1992c, 42-3). Ólgr is otherwise not attested as a heiti for ‘fire’. The A variant ǫlgr could perhaps be explained by an association with the weak verb elgja ‘belch’ (AEW: olgr). RE 1665 has ‘Ølgur’, which is closer to A (ǫlgr) than to B (olgr). — [1] seti (m.) ‘sitter’: A hap. leg. from the strong verb sitja ‘sit’. — [2] feykir (m.) ‘rusher’: A hap. leg. from the weak verb feykja ‘blow, drive away, rush’. — [2] ysja (f.) ‘bustler’: As a fire-heiti, the word occurs only in this þula (and in RE 1665 ‘Isja’). It is related to usli ‘conflagration’ (st. 1/5), eimyrja ‘live coals’ (st. 2/5; see ÍO: ysja 2). It is difficult to say whether the fire-heiti ysja is the same word as Ysja (lit. ‘shouter’), the name of one of Þræll’s daughters in Rþ 13/5 (see Dronke 1997, 165, 221 and Kommentar III, 563-4).  The latter is perhaps connected to yss ‘noise of a swarm, bustle of a crowd’ (CVC: yss, ysja). The word is also recorded as a heiti for ‘river’ in Þul Á 2/2 and ysja is a nickname (Finnur Jónsson 1907, 360).  — [3] hrǫðuðr (m.) ‘hurrying one’: The heiti is an agent noun derived from the weak verb hraða ‘hurry, hasten’ and it is otherwise found only once, in Alv, where it is a name for ‘fire’ in Hel (Alv 26/6, NK 128): kalla í helio hrǫðuð ‘they call it hrǫðuðr in Hel’. The B variant hróðugr was possibly caused by confusion with the adj. hróðugr ‘triumphant’ (RE 1665 has ‘Hraududur’, i.e. hrǫðuðr). — [3] hǫrfir (m.) ‘retreating one’: A hap. leg.; agent noun formed from the weak verb hǫrfa ‘retire, retreat’. — [4] harkr (m.) ‘crackling one’: A hap. leg., a m. formation to hark n. ‘tumult’. Cf. the fire-heiti herkir (see Note to skerkir ‘tumultuous one’, st. 1/6 above). — [4] forbrennir (m.) ‘destroyer’: Lit. ‘one who consumes sth. by fire’, in which the second element is an agent noun derived from the weak verb brenna ‘burn, destroy by fire’. In Alv 26/5, this is the name for ‘fire’ among the dwarfs. Other than in the present þula and in RE 1665 (‘Forbrenner’), the word is not found elsewhere. — [5] hrapi (m.) ‘tumbling one’: Or ‘hurrying one’ (cf. hrǫðuðr ‘hurrying one’ and hripuðr ‘hastener’, ll. 3, 6). This heiti is related to the weak verb hrapa ‘fall, tumble down, fall in ruin’ or ‘rush headlong, hurry’ and other than in the present þula it is found only in RE 1665 (‘hrape’). — [5] myln ‘flash’: A hap. leg. The origin and gender (n.?) of this heiti are uncertain. According to de Vries (AEW: myln), the word might be related to Russian molnija ‘lightning’ (cf. Mjǫllnir, the name of Þórr’s hammer; for other possible explanations see ÍO: myln). — [6] hripuðr (m.) ‘hastener’: Cf. ModIcel. hripa ‘hasten, hurry’. Other than in the present list of heiti the word occurs only in Grí 1/1 (NK 57): Heitr ertu, hripuðr ‘You are hot, fire’. — [6] aldrnari (m.) ‘life-nourisher’: Cf. OE ealdorneru ‘life’s salvation’ (DOE: ealdor-neru ‘life’s safety, asylum, salvation’). See also OS lifnara ‘nourishment (to sustain life), food’. It has been argued that this poetic name for ‘fire’ expresses the idea of vitality connected with burning flames (cf. the story of Norna-Gestr; see Falk 1928a, 320-1). The heiti occurs only in the present þula, in RE 1665 (‘Aldurnare’) and in Vsp 57/6 (see Dronke 1997, 151). Cf. also fœðir ‘feeder’ (st. 2/7 above). — [7] kyndr (m.) ‘kindled one’: As a heiti for ‘fire’, this word, p. p. of the weak verb kynda ‘kindle’, is not attested elsewhere. — [7] væginn (m.) ‘moving one’: A hap. leg. According to de Vries (AEW: væginn 1), the word is derived from vágr (one of the names for ‘fire’ in Alv 26/3; see also Kommentar III, 357-8) and not related to the weak verb vægja ‘give way, yield’. Hence its meaning is ‘moving one’ or ‘swinging one’ (cf. ModGer. bewegen ‘move’ and AEW: vágr) rather than ‘lenient, yielding’ (adj.). RE 1665 renders this word as ‘Wægan’. — [8] kveykir (m.) ‘quickener’: A hap. leg.; an agent noun derived from the weak verb kveykja ‘quicken, kindle’. The B variant kveyktr ‘kindled one’ (p. p. of the same verb) is also possible. Cf. kyndr ‘kindled one’ (l. 7). RE 1665 has ‘Kveikur’, either kveikr m. ‘wick’ or kveykur f. pl. ‘sth. that kindles’, but more likely a corrupt form of the A variant. — [8] ok ‘and’: Omitted in Skj B and Skald. — [8] búði (m.) ‘dweller’: Or ‘one belonging to a dwelling’ (so AEW: búði), most likely from búð f. ‘booth’ (‘booth-dweller’), although Holthausen (1942, 271) argues that the word originates from Gmc *ga-būþa ‘comrade, companion’. In skaldic poetry the heiti occurs only once, in a C14th skaldic poem (Árni Gd 19/4^IV), where it might have been taken from a learned source (the þulur?). It is also given in RE 1665 (‘Bude’), and it is used in the rímur in a kenning for ‘sword’ (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: búði).

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. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
7. Gurevich, Elena A. 1992c. ‘Þulur in Skáldskaparmál: An Attempt at Skaldic Lexicology’. ANF 107, 35-52.
8. Finnur Jónsson. 1926-8. Ordbog til de af samfund til udg. af gml. nord. litteratur udgivne Rímur samt til de af Dr. O. Jiriczek udgivne Bósarímur. SUGNL 51. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. 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.
10. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
11. Kommentar = See, Klaus von et al. 1997-2012. Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda. 7 vols. Heidelberg: Winter.
12. Finnur Jónsson. 1907. ‘Tilnavne i den islandske oldlitteratur’. ÅNOH, 161-381.
13. Falk, Hjalmar. 1928a. ‘Ordstudier I’. ANF 44, 315-24.
14. Dronke, Ursula, ed. and trans. 1997. The Poetic Edda. II: Mythological Poems. Oxford: Clarendon.
15. Holthausen, Ferdinand. 1942. ‘Etymologisches und Grammatisches’. BGDSL 66, 265-75.
16. DOE = Cameron, Angus, Ashley Crandell Amos and Antonette diPaolo Healey, eds. 2007-. Dictionary of Old English. Toronto: University of Toronto. <http://www.doe.utoronto.ca/>
17. Internal references
18. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Vargs 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. 903.
19. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 746.
20. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Øxna heiti 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. 888.
21. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hauks 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. 943.
22. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Á 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. 840.
23. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Skipa heiti 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. 865.
24. Not published: do not cite (Árni Gd 19^IV)
25. Not published: do not cite ()
26. Not published: do not cite ()
27. Not published: do not cite ()
28. Not published: do not cite ()