Anon (LaufE) 1^III

These anonymous stanzas (Anon (LaufE) 1-5) are recorded in both redactions of LaufE (mss papp10ˣ (main ms.), 2368ˣ, 743ˣ) in the section on kennings for ‘woman’, and they were also copied in the same prose environment from a LaufE ms. in RE 1665(Ji2), which has no independent value. All of the stanzas are cited to illustrate various types of base-words used in women-kennings.

Hvé fyr leik, en lauka
Lofn kunni þat stofna,
stórvænn, styrjar kenni,
stendr línapaldr mínum.

Hvé {stórvænn línapaldr} stendr fyr leik mínum, en {Lofn lauka} kunni stofna þat {kenni styrjar}.

How {the mightily fair linen-apple-tree} [WOMAN] prevents my pleasure, and {the Lofn <goddess> of leeks} [WOMAN] could inflict that {on the master of battle} [WARRIOR].

Mss: papp10ˣ(48r); 2368ˣ(117), 743ˣ(88v) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] leik: ‘lick’ 2368ˣ    [2] þat: þar all

Editions: Skj AI, 600, Skj BI, 600, Skald I, 292, NN §1234; SnE 1848-87, II, 631, III, 196-7, LaufE 1979, 292, 376.

Context: The helmingr is one of two half-stanzas cited to illustrate base-words in women-kennings that are masculine tree-names, here, apaldr ‘apple-tree’. The half-stanza is cited immediately before Ólhelg Lv 2^I, and in 2368ˣ the two helmingar are written as one stanza.

Notes: [All]: Because the stanza begins with hvé ‘how’, it is likely to be the second helmingr of a stanza whose first helmingr is now missing. — [All]: This interpretation follows Skj B. To achieve a more straightforward word order, Kock (Skald; NN §1234) emends stórvænn (m. nom. sg.) ‘mightily fair’ (l. 3) to stórvæn (f. nom. sg.), and takes it with Lofn lauka ‘the Lofn of leeks’ (ll. 1-2). — [1-2] Lofn lauka ‘the Lofn <goddess> of leeks [WOMAN]’: For the goddess Lofn, see Note to Þul Ásynja 1/6. The determinant, lauka ‘of leeks’, refers to women being skilful with herbs (Meissner 418; see also Note to l. 4 below and Guðrún P. Helgadóttir 1981). — [1, 4] stendr fyr leik mínum ‘prevents my pleasure’: Leik ‘sport, game, pleasure’ has clear sexual overtones in this and similar skaldic asides (see Anon Stríðk Note to [All]; cf. also Anon (SnE) 2, which also contains the verb standa fyr ‘prevent’, and Mberf Lv 3/4^II). — [2] þat ‘that’: All mss have þar ‘there’, which cannot be construed to make any sense in this context. Sveinbjörn Egilsson suggested emendation to þat (see SnE 1848-87, II, 631 n. 3), which has been adopted by subsequent eds. — [3]: This line is composed in the skjálfhent variant of dróttkvætt (see SnSt Ht 35/3, 7). — [4] línapaldr ‘linen-apple-tree [WOMAN]’: This kenning is untraditional, since the base-word, apaldr ‘apple-tree’, is m. rather than f. (see Note to Þul Viðar 2/5). The juxtaposition of the determinants in the two woman-kennings, lauka ‘of leeks’ (l. 1) and lín- ‘linen-’, is also striking, since both words occur together in runic magic formulas (see Heizmann 1992). See also Anon Vǫlsa 4/3-4^I and Notes there.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
7. 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.
8. Heizmann, Wilhelm. 1992. ‘Lein(en) und Lauch in der Inschrift von Fløksand und im Vǫlsa þáttr’. In Beck et al. 1992, 365-95.
9. Guðrún P. Helgadóttir. 1981. ‘Laukagarðr’. In Dronke et al. 1981, 171-4.
10. Internal references
11. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Stríðkeravísur’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 628. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1042> (accessed 19 April 2024)
12. 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.
13. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Viðar 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. 882.
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Stanzas from Snorra Edda 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. 514.
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Stanzas from Laufás Edda 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. 637.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Magnús berfœttr Óláfsson, Lausavísur 3’ 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. 387.
17. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Óláfr inn helgi Haraldsson, Lausavísur 2’ 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. 518.
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 35’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1142.
19. Wilhelm Heizmann (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Vǫlsa þáttr 4’ 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. 1095.
20. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ 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=10928> (accessed 19 April 2024)