Þul Skjaldar 1^III

Skjǫldr, þrunginsalr,         skaunn, salbendingr,
bugnir, hlébarðr         ok buklari,
véttlimi, targa,         veðrglaðr ok hlíf,
víðbleiknir, rít,         vígglaðr ok lind.

Skjǫldr, þrunginsalr, skaunn, salbendingr, bugnir, hlébarðr ok buklari, véttlimi, targa, veðrglaðr ok hlíf, víðbleiknir, rít, vígglaðr ok lind.

Shield, crowded hall, skaunn, hall-rounder, bender, lee-edge and buckler, battle-broom, targe, wind-bright one and protection, wide-pale one, engraved one, battle-bright one and linden.

Mss: R(43r), Tˣ(45r), C(12v), A(19r), B(8v-9r), 744ˣ(70v-71r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Skjǫldr: ‘[…]kio᷎lldr’ B, ‘Skio᷎ldr’ 744ˣ;    þrungin‑: ‘þrungil‑’ C, þrunginn‑ A, ‘þrung[…]’ B, þrungin‑ 744ˣ    [2] skaunn: skaun C, A, 744ˣ, ‘sk[…]n’ B;    salbendingr: ‘falbendingr’ C, ‘sa[…]benn […]’ B, ‘sanbenndingr’ 744ˣ    [3] bugnir: so all others, bognir R;    hlé‑: so Tˣ, C, B, hlæ‑ R, A    [5] véttlimi: ‘v[…]tliði’ C, ‘[…]ttlime’ B, ‘ríettlime’ 744ˣ;    targa: ‘targ[…]’ B, targa 744ˣ    [6] veðrglaðr: ‘[…] glaðr’ B, veðr glaðr 744ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 667, Skj BI, 665, Skald I, 330; SnE 1848-87, I, 571, II, 478, 561, 621, SnE 1931, 204, SnE 1998, I, 122.

Notes: [1] þrunginsalr (m.) ‘crowded hall’: A cpd not attested elsewhere, where the first element is derived from þrunginn, p. p. of the strong verb þryngva ‘crowd, fill up, force, oppress’, and the second element is salr m. ‘hall’. According to Falk (1914b, 126 n. 5), the heiti þrunginsalr refers to a skjaldborg ‘shield-wall’, a traditional battle formation, and hence should be interpreted as a half-kenning that requires a determinant, namely, one of Óðinn’s names. Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, this heiti could be a metonomic reference to the custom of warriors leaving their shields against the wall of a hall when on a friendly visit. See also Note to salbendingr, l. 2 below. — [2] skaunn (m.): Or skaun f. (so C, A, B). A poetic term for ‘shield’, found only in Eil Þdr 10/2. The origin of this heiti is obscure and disputed (see Falk 1914b, 139; 1912, 104-6; LP: skaunn; ÍO: skaunn, skaun; AEW: skaun). — [2] salbendingr (m.) ‘hall-rounder’: The first element of the cpd is salr m. ‘hall’ and the second is most likely a derivation of the weak verb benda ‘bend’, probably with a passive meaning (-bendingr ‘bent one’, perhaps referring to the shield-boss and used as pars pro toto for ‘shield’). According to Meissner 9, this heiti refers to shields placed around the walls inside ancient halls (cf. also SnE 1998, II, 381). See also þrunginsalr in l. 1 above. This heiti is not attested elsewhere. — [3] bugnir (m.) ‘bender’: A heiti related to the noun bugr m. ‘bend, curve’ (cf. the previous heiti). This word does not occur elsewhere in skaldic poetry, but it is used in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: bugnir). — [3] hlébarðr (m.) ‘lee-edge’: Either from hlé n. ‘protection’ and barð n. ‘edge’ (cf. barði ‘bordered one’, st. 2/7; so AEW: hlébarðr 2; LP: hlébarðr 2) or, as Falk (1914b, 146) maintains, from hlébarðr ‘leopard’. If so, this would be a shield decorated with an image of a leopard or another animal (in other þulur this word is listed among the heiti for ‘bear’ and ‘wolf’; see Þul Bjarnar 1/6 and Þul Vargs 1/6 as well as Note to Arn Hryn 2/1^II). Hlébarðr is also a giant in Hárb 20/5. — [4] buklari (m.) ‘buckler’: A small round shield with a bukl ‘shield-boss’ (Falk 1914b, 133-5), used here as pars pro toto for ‘shield’. The heiti is a loanword (< MLG bokeler, MHG buckelære < OFr. bouclier ‘shield with a boss’) that first appears in Iceland in the C13th but does not otherwise occur in skaldic poetry. — [5] véttlimi (m.) ‘battle-broom’: This cpd, which is not attested elsewhere, is formed from vétt- ‘battle’ (cf. véttrim ‘battle-rim’, Þul Sverða 11/3) and ‑limi ‘broom’ or ‘rod of twigs’ (or ‑lími ‘broom’; see Falk 1914b, 138). Falk (1914b, 137-8, followed by SnE 1998, II, 426) takes this heiti to mean ‘battle-bundle’, and suggests that véttlimi may refer to a wicker shield made of rods. — [6] veðrglaðr (m.) ‘wind-bright one’: A hap. leg. from veðr n. ‘weather, wind, air, storm’ and the adj. glaðr ‘bright, glad’. It is possible that veðr, which is a common base-word in battle-kennings, could have been taken as a half-kenning for ‘battle’, and that the shield-kenning would translate as ‘battle-bright one’. — [7] víðbleiknir (m.) ‘wide-pale one’: A cpd not attested elsewhere, whose first element is the adj. víðr ‘wide’. The second element is probably derived from the adj. bleikr ‘pale’ with the suffix ‑nir. According to Falk (1914b, 148), the correct form is víðbliknir (from the weak verb blika ‘gleam’) ‘wide-shiner’, but that reading is not supported by the ms. witnesses. — [7] rít (f.) ‘engraved one’: A poetic word for ‘shield’, derived from the strong verb ríta ‘cut, write’ and originally a term for a shield decorated with carvings (Falk 1914b, 138-9). See Bragi Rdr and Þjóð Haustl. Cf. such similar poetic terms for ‘shield’ as grafningr and grafnir (lit. ‘engraved’; LP: grafningr). — [8] vígglaðr (m.) ‘battle-bright one’: A cpd not found elsewhere in skaldic poetry as a heiti for ‘shield’, from víg n. ‘fight, battle’ and the adj. glaðr (see also veðrglaðr ‘wind-bright one’, l. 6 above). The f. form vígglǫð is listed among the heiti for ‘axe’ (Þul Øxar l. 8) and ‘troll-woman’ (Þul Trollkvenna 5/5), and the m. form occurs in the rímur in a kenning for ‘battle’ (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: vígglaðr). — [8] lind (f.) ‘linden’: From lind ‘linden, lime-tree’. In poetry this could refer either to a shield or to a spear made of linden wood (see Notes to SnSt Ht 9/2 and 10/3). Lind is also a poetic term for ‘shield’ in Old English (e.g. Beowulf l. 2337) and Old High German (lintun pl., Hildebrandslied l. 67).

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. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
5. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
9. Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
10. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
11. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
12. Internal references
13. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Trollkvenna 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. 730.
14. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Bjarnar 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. 895.
15. 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.
16. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Ragnarsdrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 27. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1130> (accessed 23 April 2024)
17. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 11’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 809.
18. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Haustlǫng’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 431. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1438> (accessed 23 April 2024)
19. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 2’ 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. 184-5.
20. Not published: do not cite ()
21. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Eilífr Goðrúnarson, Þórsdrápa 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. 96.
22. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Øxar 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. 813. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3195> (accessed 23 April 2024)
23. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 9’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1114.
24. Not published: do not cite ()