Þul Hjálms 2^III

Hildigǫltr, kellir,         herkumbl ok velgr,
gríma, œgir,         glævir, stefnir.

Hildigǫltr, kellir, herkumbl ok velgr, gríma, œgir, glævir, stefnir.

Hildigǫltr (‘Battle-boar’), head covering, war-token and velgr, mask, terrifier, gleamer, stefnir.

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

Readings: [1] kellir: ‘ke᷎lír’ B    [2] ‑kumbl: ‑kuml C    [4] glævir: so C, ‘glǫvir’ R, ‘glouir’ Tˣ, ‘glævær’ A, ‘gle᷎fir’ B

Editions: Skj AI, 668, Skj BI, 666, Skald I, 330; SnE 1848-87, I, 573, II, 479, 562, 621, SnE 1931, 204, SnE 1998, I, 123.

Notes: [1] Hildigǫltr (m.) ‘(“Battle-boar”)’: The helmet which King Aðils captured after King Áli’s death, otherwise called Hildisvín ‘battle-swine’ (SnE 1998, I, 58). See also Hyndl 7/5-10 and Kommentar III, 715-16. Cf. valhrímnir ‘slaughter-boar’ (st. 1/4). — [1] kellir (m.) ‘head covering’: A poetic term for ‘helmet’, otherwise found only in KormǪ Lv 34/3^V (Korm 53). The origin and meaning of this heiti are obscure, and none of the proposed derivations are unproblematic from a phonological point of view. In LP: kellir, the word is related to kollr m. ‘head’, hence ‘head covering’ (adopted in this edn). According to Falk (1914b, 162 n. 1), kellir is a loanword from OIr. celbir ‘helmet’, while de Vries (AEW: kellir) finds a parallel to this word in ModGer. Kelle ‘scoop’, and suggests that the lit. meaning might have been ‘hollow object’ (see also ÍO: kellir 2). This heiti also occurs several times in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: kellir). — [2] herkumbl (n.) ‘war-token’: The second element of this cpd denotes a sign (kumbl or kuml) painted on shields and helmets. Cf. also kumbl ‘helmet’ in Ghv 7/3. — [2] velgr (m.): Perhaps related to the weak verb velgja ‘warm’, but if so, it must be a secondary derivation (velgr ‘warmer’?). Falk (1914b, 164 n. 3) explains the heiti as a term for an ancient helmet with a mask (cf. also gríma ‘mask’ in the next line). The word is otherwise found only in GunnlI Lv 11/8^V (Gunnl 17). — [3] gríma (f.) ‘mask’: In the sense ‘helmet’, the word occurs only in poetry (cf. OE grīmhelm, heregrīma, beadogrīma ‘battle-mask’, OHG grīmo ‘mask, helmet’). According to Falk (1914b, 164), this is the term for an ancient helmet with a mask. In prose, gríma is a hood or cowl covering the upper part of the face (see CVC: gríma). The word is also listed as a name for ‘troll-woman’ in Þul Trollkvenna 1/6 and among the heiti for ‘night’ in Þul Dœgra l. 5. — [3] œgir (m.) ‘terrifier’: Other than in the þulur, this heiti occurs only once in skaldic poetry, in a kenning for ‘heaven’ (Gamlkan Has 56/7^VII foldar œgis ‘helmet of the land’), but it is attested in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: ægir). The word is an agent noun from the weak verb œgja ‘frighten’ (see also Þul Sverða 8/3). See also œgishjálmr ‘helmet of terror’ and Notes to Sturl Hryn 8/8^II and Sturl Hákkv 14/2^II. — [4] glævir (m.) ‘gleamer’: A hap. leg. related to the adj. glær ‘glaring, clear’ (see Note to Þul Boga l. 3). — [4] stefnir (m.): Of uncertain meaning and not attested elsewhere in skaldic poetry as a heiti for helmet, although it is used in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: stefnir). The heiti may have been derived from stafn m. ‘stem, prow’ and, according to Falk (1914b, 162), could denote stem-shaped Frankish helmets (cf. Sigv Nesv 5/6^I und hjalm inn valska ‘under the Frankish helmet’, Sigv Nesv 15/3, 4^I feltk peitneskum hjalmi ‘I put on a Poitou-made helmet’, and Note to Arn Hryn 9/8^II). It could also be derived from stafn in the sense ‘gable’ or ‘hood’ (see Heggstad et al. 2008: stafn 2-3). Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 402) suggests ‘a pointed helmet’. Alternatively, the word could be related to stofn m. ‘stump, footing’ (so AEW: stefnir 2).

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. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
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. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
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. Kommentar = See, Klaus von et al. 1997-2012. Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda. 7 vols. Heidelberg: Winter.
10. Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
11. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
12. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
13. Internal references
14. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Trollkvenna 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. 724.
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða 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. 804.
16. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 9’ 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. 193-4.
17. Not published: do not cite ()
18. Not published: do not cite ()
19. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 56’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 123-4.
20. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2022, ‘Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu 17 (Gunnlaugr ormstunga Illugason, Lausavísur 11)’ 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. 853.
21. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Boga 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. 821. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3199> (accessed 19 April 2024)
22. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Dœgra 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. 914. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3231> (accessed 19 April 2024)
23. Edith Marold (ed.) 2022, ‘Kormáks saga 53 (Kormákr Ǫgmundarson, Lausavísur 34)’ 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. 1118.
24. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Nesjavísur 15’ 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. 578.
25. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Nesjavísur 5’ 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. 563.
26. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarkviða 14’ 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, p. 710.
27. Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrynhenda 8’ 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, p. 685.