Þul Skjaldar 2^III

Gjallr, dǫggskafi         ok gimskýlir,
bǫðljós, grýta         ok bǫðskýlir,
Svalinn ok randi,         saurnir, borði,
skuttingr, barði,         skírr, tvíbyrðingr.

Gjallr, dǫggskafi ok gimskýlir, bǫðljós, grýta ok bǫðskýlir, Svalinn ok randi, saurnir, borði, skuttingr, barði, skírr, tvíbyrðingr.

Clamouring one, dew-scraper and jewel-shelterer, war-light, pot and war-shelterer, Svalinn and edged one, soiled one, boarded one, protector, bordered one, clear one, double-boarded one.

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

Readings: [2] gimskýlir: gunnkylir A, B    [3] bǫð‑: so A, B, bað‑ R, Tˣ, barð‑ C;    grýta: ‘[…]ýta’ B, grýta 744ˣ    [5] Svalinn: svalingr C    [6] borði: ‘[…]rde’ B, ‘borde’ 744ˣ    [7] skuttingr: skutting C, ‘skvtfingr’ A, ‘sku[…]þunngr’ B, ‘skutþunngr’ 744ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 667, Skj BI, 665, Skald I, 330; SnE 1848-87, I, 572, II, 478, 562, 621, SnE 1931, 204, SnE 1998, I, 122-3.

Notes: [1] gjallr (m.) ‘clamouring one’: As a shield-heiti the word does not occur elsewhere (but cf. the adj. gjallr qualifying a shield-kenning in Bragi Rdr 2: ins gjalla baugnafaðs hjóls meyjar Hǫgna ‘the resounding boss-hubbed wheel of the maid of Hǫgni <legendary king> [= Hildr > SHIELD]’). The word is also recorded in Þul Sverða 1/6 (see Note there) and Þul Sjóvar 1/5. — [1] dǫggskafi (m.) ‘dew-scraper’: An otherwise unattested cpd formed from dǫgg f. ‘dew’ and the agent noun skafi ‘scraper’ derived from the strong verb skafa ‘scrape’. According to Falk (1914b, 136 n. 2; so also SnE 1998, II, 262), the heiti may denote a long triangular shield whose lower point was scraping the dew. — [2] gimskýlir (m.) ‘jewel-shelterer’: The first element of this otherwise unattested cpd, gim-, is a poetic term for ‘fire’ and, in the cpd gimsteinn (lit. ‘gem-stone’), a word for ‘gem, jewel’ (hence, possibly a shield decorated with precious stones). The second element is an agent noun derived from the weak verb skýla ‘screen, shelter’. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B, followed by Skald) and Falk (1914b, 139) adopt the reading gunnskýlir ‘battle-shelterer’, an emendation of the A and B variants ‘gvnnkylir’ (A) and ‘gunnkýler’ (B). Cf. also such terms for ‘shield’ as bǫðskýlir ‘war-shelterer’ (l. 4), skuttingr ‘protector’ (l. 7), hlíf  ‘protection’ (st. 1/6) and eihlífnir ‘ever-protector’ (st. 3/2). — [3] bǫðljós (n.) ‘war-light’: From bǫð f. a poetic term for ‘battle’, and ljós n. ‘light’ (such compounds are usually kennings for ‘sword’). The C variant, barðljós, is a cpd whose first element is barð n. ‘prow’ (hence lit. ‘prow-light’, a reading adopted in Skj B, Skald and Falk 1914b, 148). Barðljós is a kenning (and not a heiti) for ‘shield’ (cf. such shield-kennings as barðmáni ‘prow-moon’, Hfr ErfÓl 26a/6^I, originating in the custom of hanging shields on the railings of ships). Neither term is attested elsewhere as heiti for ‘shield’. — [3] grýta (f.) ‘pot’: This name may refer to the round and hollow shape of a shield (Falk 1914b, 135 n. 4). — [4] bǫðskýlir (m.) ‘war-shelterer’: An otherwise unattested cpd. See Notes to bǫðljós ‘war-light’ (l. 3) and gimskýlir ‘jewel-shelterer’ (l. 2 above). — [5] Svalinn: Lit. ‘cool one’ (from the adj. svalr ‘cool, fresh’). Cf. Svǫl (or Svalin, variant) in Grí 38/1 (NK 65), where this is the name of a mythical shield that stands in front of the sun (another m. derivational form, svalingr is recorded in ms. C; see Readings above). Svalinn is never found as a heiti for ‘shield’ in poetry. — [5] randi (m.) ‘edged one’: Derived from rǫnd f. ‘rim, border’ (a shield-heiti in poetry; see LP: rǫnd 2). The heiti is not otherwise attested in skaldic poetry, but it is used in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: randi). — [6] saurnir (m.) ‘soiled one’: A hap. leg. from saurr m. ‘mud, dirt’ (Falk 1914b, 148). — [6] borði (m.) ‘boarded one’: A poetic term for ‘shield’ from borð n. ‘board, plank’, hence ‘one made of boards’ (cf. OE bord ‘plank’ and ‘shield’; see Falk 1914b, 131 n. 3; SnE 1998, II, 248). — [7] skuttingr (m.) ‘protector’: A hap. leg. and a loanword from MLG schuttinge ‘protection’ (Falk 1914b, 139). — [7] barði (m.) ‘bordered one’: Derived from barð n. ‘edge, rim’ (cf. randi ‘edged one’, l. 5 and rǫnd ‘border’). This word does not otherwise appear in skaldic poetry as a heiti for ‘shield’, but it is found in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: barði). — [8] skírr (m.) ‘clear one’: A substantivised adj. (skírr ‘clear, bright, pure’; cf. bǫðljós ‘war-light’, l. 3 above). Other than in the present þula, the heiti occurs in a kenning for ‘man’ skírviðr ‘shield-tree’ (spelled skýr-; see HólmgB Lv 14/5^V (Korm 50)). — [8] tvíbyrðingr (m.) ‘double-boarded one’: The heiti evidently refers to a shield made of two layers of wood (cf. tvíbyrðr skjǫldr; see Falk 1914b, 129-30; SnE 1998, II, 415), from tví- ‘double’ and borð (see borði ‘boarded one’, l. 6 above). It is not used elsewhere as a heiti for ‘shield’.

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. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
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. Internal references
12. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða 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. 790.
13. 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.
14. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Ragnarsdrápa 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. 30.
15. Not published: do not cite ()
16. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 26a’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 437.
17. Edith Marold (ed.) 2022, ‘Kormáks saga 50 (Hólmgǫngu-Bersi Véleifsson, Lausavísur 14)’ 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. 1113.