Þul Kvenna II 1^III

Þessi skal kenna         kellu heiti:
Sága, Sigyn,         Sif, Þrúðr, Iðunn,
Frigg ok Bestla,         Fulla ok Nanna,
Gefjun ok Hǫrn,         Gerðr ok Laufey.

Skal kenna þessi heiti kellu: Sága, Sigyn, Sif, Þrúðr, Iðunn, Frigg ok Bestla, Fulla ok Nanna, Gefjun ok Hǫrn, Gerðr ok Laufey.

One must qualify these names for woman: Sága, Sigyn, Sif, Þrúðr, Iðunn, Frigg and Bestla, Fulla and Nanna, Gefjun and Hǫrn, Gerðr and Laufey.

Mss: A(21r) (SnE)

Readings: [7] ok Hǫrn: ‘hora’ A

Editions: Skj AI, 688, Skj BI, 677, Skald I, 342, NN §1904C, D; SnE 1848-87, II, 489.

Notes: [1-2] skal kenna þessi heiti kellu ‘one must qualify these names for woman’: The sense of kenna (kenna við or til) in poetics is ‘call something or someone after something or someone else’ (Clunies Ross 1987, 51). This technical meaning is probably implied here; i.e. that each of the ókend heiti listed below must be supplied with a determinant to form a periphrastic phrase, a kenning (cf. kent heiti = kenning in Snorri’s definition of the latter in Skm; see SnE 1998, I, 5, II, 334). Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 903) calls attention to the fact that the anonymous compiler of the þula adopted the stylistically inferior kella f. (from kerling ‘old woman’, see Þul Kvenna I l. 8 and Note there) rather than a common neutral word for ‘woman’ (e.g. kona) in the introductory line of the first stanza. The low style, he believes, could have been intended to emphasise the difference in value between the poetic terms for ‘woman’ called Kvenna heiti and the half-finished terms ókend heiti, which were used merely as base-words in woman-kennings. Kock (NN §1904C, D), on the other hand, argues that the ókend heiti listed in this þula are so-called half-kennings, i.e. kenning base-words which, owing to their frequent appearance in this type of poetic circumlocution, could be used in skaldic verse without their determinants. He maintains that kenna in this context means ‘tell, list, enumerate’ and that the verb is used in the same sense as segja ‘say’ or telja ‘tell, count’ in other catalogues of heiti. — [3] Sága: See Note to Þul Ásynja 2/3. — [3] Sigyn: The line is too short, and it is possible that the name ought to be rendered in its more archaic form Sigvin. See Note to Þul Ásynja 2/4 and Introduction above. — [4] Sif: The wife of Þórr, whose name means ‘affinity’; cf. sifjar (f. pl.) ‘kinsmen, relations by marriage’ (cf. also Hárb 48/1, Hym 3/5, 15/5, 34/6, Lok prose and Þry 24/9). In the Prologue to SnE, Sif (= Sibil) is said to be the most beautiful of all women, whose hair resembled gold (SnE 2005, 5; see also p. 26 and Skm, SnE 1998, I, 14, 20, 30, 35, 40-2). According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 41-2), Loki cut off Sif’s hair and was compelled by Þórr to make dwarfs fashion a wig of gold for her, which grew like normal hair. The name of this goddess frequently occurs in kennings for ‘woman’, but it is not mentioned in Þul Ásynja (see Introduction). — [4] Þrúðr: See Note to Þul Ásynja 2/7. This name is found both as a base-word in kennings for ‘woman’ and as a half-kenning in VíglÞ Lv 3/3^V (Vígl 5). Other kvenna heiti ókend listed in this þula are also used in a similar way in the stanzas of VíglÞ (see Notes to st. 3/1-4 below). — [4] Iðunn: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/7 and Introduction above. — [5] Frigg: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/3. — [5] Bestla: This is a giantess, Óðinn’s mother and daughter of the giant Bǫlþorr (or Bǫlþorn) (cf. Hávm 140/3; Gylf, SnE 2005, 11). The meaning of Bestla is unclear, perhaps ‘wife’ (see the discussion in AEW: Bestla). The name Bestla is found in skaldic verse (LP: Bestla), but it is not attested in kennings for ‘woman’. In the rímur the name is used as a heiti for ‘troll-woman’ and appears in kennings for ‘wolf’ and ‘mind’ (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: Bestla). — [6] Fulla: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/4. — [6] Nanna: See Note to Þul Ásynja 2/1. — [7] Gefjun ok Hǫrn ‘Gefjun and Hǫrn’: Spelled ‘gefivn hora’ in the ms. The conjunction ok ‘and’ has been added for metrical reasons in keeping with earlier eds. The word ‘hora’ (normalised hóra ‘whore’) is most likely to be a scribal error. Although hóra ‘whore’ is a term for ‘woman’, the word is not appropriate in the context of a þula that enumerates base-words in kennings for ‘woman’. The emendation Hǫrn, a name for Freyja (see Þul Ásynja 3/4), was suggested by Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 898) and accepted by all subsequent eds (cf. SnE 1848-87, II, 489 n. 3). — [7] Gefjun: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/5. — [8] Gerðr: See Note to Þul Ásynja 1/5. — [8] Laufey: See Introduction above. Laufey, otherwise called Nál (lit. ‘needle’), is Loki’s mother (see Lok 52/2, Þry 18/2, 20/2, Gylf, SnE 2005, 26, 35, 45 and Skm, SnE 1998, I, 19, etc.). The meaning of the name of this goddess is uncertain, possibly < *lauf-awiaz ‘leaf-rich’ (for other suggested etymologies, see AEW: Laufey).

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. Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
7. 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.
8. Clunies Ross, Margaret. 1987. Skáldskaparmál: Snorri Sturluson’s ars poetica and Medieval Theories of Language. VC 4. [Odense]: Odense University Press.
9. 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.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
12. Internal references
13. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
14. (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 26 April 2024)
15. (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 26 April 2024)
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Ásynja 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. 763.
17. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Ásynja 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. 765.
18. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Ásynja 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. 768.
19. Not published: do not cite ()
20. Not published: do not cite ()
21. Not published: do not cite ()
22. Not published: do not cite ()
23. Not published: do not cite ()
24. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ásynja 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. 762. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3190> (accessed 26 April 2024)
25. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Kvenna 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. 772. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3191> (accessed 26 April 2024)
26. Klaus Johan Myrvoll (ed.) 2022, ‘Víglundar saga 5 (Víglundr Þorgrímsson, Lausavísur 3)’ 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. 1416.