Þul Á 1^III

Gjǫll, glit, gera,         glóð ok valskjalf,
Ván, Víð, Vimur,         ving ok Ýsa,
Síð, suðr, freka,         Sœkin, einstika,
elfr, ró, ekla,         Ekin, Rennandi.

Gjǫll, glit, gera, glóð ok valskjalf, Ván, Víð, Vimur, ving ok Ýsa, Síð, suðr, freka, Sœkin, einstika, elfr, ró, ekla, Ekin, Rennandi.

Gjǫll, shining, greedy one, glowing and valskjálf, Ván, Víð, Vimur, ving and Ouse, Síð, boiling one, voracious one, Sœkin, lone-measuring one, river, calm, want, Ekin, Rennandi.

Mss: R(43v), Tˣ(45v), C(12v), A(19r), B(9r), 744ˣ(72v-73r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Gjǫll: ‘Mioll’ C, ‘[…]ío[…]’ B, ‘Gio᷎ll’ 744ˣ    [2] glóð: ‘glaud’ C, ‘g[…]’ B, ‘glod’ 744ˣ;    ok: ‘[…]’ B, ‘ok’ 744ˣ;    valskjalf: ‘[…]alsc[…]lf’ B, ‘valscialf’ 744ˣ    [3] Ván: so A, von R, Tˣ, ‘vaunn’ C, ‘vo᷎n’ B;    Vimur: vimr Tˣ    [4] Ýsa: ‘ysa’ or ‘vsa’ A, ‘[…]’ B, ýsa 744ˣ    [5] freka: ‘[…]’ B, ‘fṛẹ . . .’ 744ˣ    [6] Sœkin: so C, A, sekin R, Tˣ, ‘[…]’ B, ‘. . . ıı’ 744ˣ;    ‑stika: ‑stiga C    [7] elfr ró: elf ró A, ‘elfro’ B;    ekla: ‘eckla’ C    [8] Ekin: eikin C, ‘[…]’ B, ‘ekin’ 744ˣ;    Rennandi: ‘renanndi’ Tˣ, ‘[…]de’ B, ‘rennande’ 744ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 669, Skj BI, 666, Skald I, 331, NN §§1966, 3138; SnE 1848-87, I, 575-6, II, 479, 563, 622, SnE 1931, 205, SnE 1998, I, 124-5.

Notes: [1] Gjǫll (f.): Lit. ‘din’, a mythical river at the border of Hel (Grí 28/10; Gylf, SnE 2005, 9, 47). According to Gylf, Hermóðr, the son of Óðinn, who was sent to ransom his brother Baldr from Hel, had to cross the Gjallarbrú, the bridge over the river Gjǫll, which was paved with shining gold. — [1] glit ‘shining’: A n. noun denoting something that shines or glimmers. The word is not attested elsewhere as a heiti for ‘river’. — [1] gera (f.) ‘greedy one’: A hap. leg. Geri (m.) was one of Óðinn’s wolves in Old Norse myth, and the m. form is also found in other þulur (see Note to Þul Vargs 1/1 and freka ‘voracious one’ in l. 5 below). — [2] glóð (f.) ‘glowing’: As a heiti for ‘river’, glóð lit. ‘glowing embers’ does not occur elsewhere. — [2] valskjalf (f.): A hap. leg., but Valaskjǫlf (or Válaskjálf), is the name of Óðinn’s hall (Grí 6/4). As a river-name, the cpd is probably formed from valr m. ‘the slain’ (val- may have a more general sense, ‘war-’, here) and skjálf f. ‘shelf’, hence lit. ‘slain/war-shelf’, or, according to AEW: skjalf, skjálf ‘peak’. Alternatively, the second element might be a nomen actionis from the strong verb skjálfa ‘tremble, shake’ (hence ‘slain-shiver’). Cf. also Hliðskjálf, the elevated place where Óðinn and Frigg sit when they look out over all worlds (see Grí prose, NK 56). — [3] Ván (f.): One of the mythical rivers mentioned in Grí 28/8. According to Gylf (SnE 2005, 29), this river flows from the mouth of the wolf Fenrir. The name Ván is undoubtedly the same word as ON ván f. ‘hope’, which, as a river-name, could possibly imply ‘hope for good fishing’ (cf. Norwegian dialects von ‘a place where one expects to find something, such as a fishing place or a hunting ground’; Hale 1983, 180-1). An attempt to connect the river-heiti Ván with the Swedish Lake Vänern was rejected by Hellquist (1970, 1390-1). For discussion of this suggestion, see Hale (1983, 180-1). The name appears in skaldic kennings (see LP: Vôn). — [3] Víð: The name translates as ‘wide one’ (f. nom. sg.). This is one of the mythical rivers that flow from the spring Hvergelmir (Grí 27/1; Gylf, SnE 2005, 9, 33). The name does not occur in skaldic verse. Víð is recorded again in st. 5/5 below and it is also mentioned twice in Grí (sts 27/1, 28/8). — [3] Vimur (f.): A river on the border between the worlds of the gods and the giants that Þórr forded on his way to the giant Geirrøðr (Skm, SnE 1998, I, 17, 25; see also ÚlfrU Húsdr 6/5 and Eil Þdr). The name may be connected with ModIcel. vimur ‘indecision’ (see ÍO: Vimur 2). Cf. marr Vimrar ‘the horse of Vimur <river> [SHIP]’ in Þul Waves l. 4 and the river-name Geirvimul in Grí 27/7 (see st. 6/6 below). — [4] ving: A hap. leg. The origin of this heiti is unclear (ÍO: Ving). — [4] Ýsa (f.) ‘Ouse’: Most likely Úsa ‘the Ouse’, the name of more than one English river (AEW: ýsa 2). The three instances in skaldic poetry (Úsa in Ótt Knútdr 5/7^I, Arn Hardr 7/3^II and Steinn Óldr 2/1^II) appear to refer to the Yorkshire Ouse, and that may be what is meant here. — [5, 6] Síð … Sœkin: These names are also found in Grí 27/1-2 (NK 62): Síð oc Víð, | Sœkin oc Eikin. In Gylf (SnE 2005, 33), both Síð and Sœkin are rivers flowing from Hvergelmir. Síð f. nom. sg. is either from the adj. síðr ‘long, hanging down, overhanging’, ‘wide, large’ (Heggstad et al. 2008: síðr 1-2) or from the adv. síð ‘late, slowly’ (LP: Síð), which is less likely. Sœkin f. nom. sg. (Sekin in Gylf, Sœkin in Grí) is derived from the adj. sækinn ‘plucky’. Alternatively, the heiti could be connected with the weak verb sœkja ‘seek, proceed’ and mean ‘forward-rushing one’ (S-G I, 198; Hale 1983, 168). Neither Síð nor Sœkin appears in other sources. — [5] suðr ‘boiling one’: This river-heiti could be related to the strong verb sjóða ‘boil, cook, seethe’ (the third grade of ablaut). It is otherwise not attested as a heiti for ‘river’. — [5] freka (f.) ‘voracious one’: As a heiti for ‘river’ the word is not found in other sources. See also Freki m., lit. ‘greedy one’ (Þul Vargs 1/5 and Note there). Freki was one of Óðinn’s wolves in Old Norse myth (see Note to gera ‘greedy one’ in l. 1 above). — [6] einstika (f.) ‘lone-measuring one’: Or ‘lone-progressing one’. A hap. leg. The first element of this cpd is einn ‘one, alone’ and the second is probably related to the weak verb stika ‘measure with a yardstick’ (cf. stika f. ‘yard measure’). — [7] elfr (f.) ‘river’: Here possibly the proper name Gautelfr, also known as Elfr, i.e. the Götaälv in present-day south-western Sweden. — [7] ró (f.) ‘calm’: This river-heiti is identical with the f. noun ró ‘calm’. The heiti is not found elsewhere. — [7] ekla (f.) ‘want’: As a river-name the word is not found in other sources. Guðbrandur Vigfússon (CVC 780; cf. also Bugge 1875, 221) identifies Ekla as the Oykel, a river in northern Scotland, which is unlikely because that river-name otherwise appears in Old Norse sources as Ekkjall (cf. Arn Þorfdr 9/6^II). — [8] Ekin (f.): A mythical river that flows from the well Hvergelmir (Grí 27/2; Gylf, SnE 2005, 33). In the mss the name is given either as Ekin or Eikin (so ms. C and the Codex Regius version of Grí 27/2 (NK 62)). Ekin might be a p. p. (f. nom. sg.) of the strong verb aka ‘drive’ in the sense ‘driven’. If so, this name has parallels in other Nordic river-names, e.g. *Aka and Akurda (Hale 1983, 169). See Note to Sœkin (l. 6 above). Eikin may mean ‘unfriendly, warlike, savage’. Cf. the first element in the dwarf-name Eikinskjaldi (Þul Dverga 6/8) and the name of the river Eikjola (in Nordfjord, Norway), which is related to ModNorw. dialects eikja ‘to quarrel, dispute’ (Hale 1983, 169). See also Refr Frag 4/4 and Arngr Gd 56/7^IV. Alternatively, Eikin could be connected with eik f. ‘oak’ (Hale loc. cit.). The name does not occur in skaldic verse. — [8] Rennandi (f. nom. sg.): Lit. ‘running’, pres. part. of the strong verb renna ‘run’. The name of a mythical river (Grí 27/5, see the previous Note). Olsen (1964, 15) suggests that this name may refer to a river that is always free of ice. This heiti is attested in a kenning for ‘gold’ in Anon Liðs 7/8^I.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
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. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
8. 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.
9. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
10. Bugge, Sophus. 1875. ‘Biskop Bjarne Kolbeinssøn og Snorres Edda’. ÅNOH, 209-46.
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. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
14. S-G = Gering, Hugo. 1927-31. Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda. Nach dem Tode des Verfassers herausgegeben von B. Sijmons. I: Götterlieder. II: Heldenlieder. Halle: Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.
15. Hellquist, Elof. 1970. Svensk etymologisk ordbok. 3rd edn. Lund: Gleerup.
16. Hale, Christopher. 1983. ‘The River Names in Grímnismál 27-29’. In Glendinning et al. 1983, 165-86.
17. Olsen, Magnus. 1964. Edda- og skaldekvad. Forarbeider til kommentar. VII. Gudedikt. Avhandlingar utgitt av Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo II. Hist.-filos. kl. new ser. 5. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
18. Internal references
19. (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 20 April 2024)
20. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ 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=113> (accessed 20 April 2024)
21. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Liðsmannaflokkr 7’ 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. 1024.
22. 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.
23. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Dverga heiti 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. 704.
24. Edith Marold with the assistance of Vivian Busch, Jana Krüger, Ann-Dörte Kyas and Katharina Seidel, translated from German by John Foulks 2017, ‘ Eilífr Goðrúnarson, Þórsdrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 68. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1170> (accessed 20 April 2024)
25. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Haraldsdrápa 7’ 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. 268.
26. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 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. 240-1.
27. Not published: do not cite (Arngr Gd 56^IV)
28. Not published: do not cite ()
29. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Heiti for waves’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 996. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=2988> (accessed 20 April 2024)
30. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Hofgarða-Refr Gestsson, Fragments 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. 262.
31. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Knútsdrápa 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. 772.
32. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Steinn Herdísarson, Óláfsdrápa 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. 369-70.
33. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Úlfr Uggason, Húsdrápa 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. 415.