Anon (TGT) 35^III

Framm þraukuðu fákar
fjórir senn und henni;
þó gat þeim in háva
þrymgǫll hlaðit ǫllum.

Fjórir fákar þraukuðu framm senn und henni; þó gat in háva þrymgǫll hlaðit þeim ǫllum.

Four horses lumbered forward at the same time under it; however, the tall noise-shriek [bell] managed to fell them all.

Mss: A(7v), W(109) (TGT)

Readings: [3] háva: þunga W    [4] þrym‑: þrum‑ W

Editions: Skj AI, 627, Skj BI, 635, Skald I, 308, NN §2563; SnE 1818, 330, SnE 1848, 196, SnE 1848-87, II, 172-3, 423, III, 150, TGT 1884, 29, 109, 226, TGT 1927, 81, 106-7.

Context: Cited as an example of onomatopoeia (‘omotopeion’), which is defined as follows (TGT 1927, 81): Omotopeion er nafn gǫrt af hljóði ‘Onomatopoeia is a a noun made from sound’.

Notes: [All]: The word þrymgǫll ‘noise-shriek’ appears to be the word illustrating onomatopoeia here, although it is not onomatopoeic in the modern sense. Donatus (Holtz 1981, 670) uses the examples tinnitus aeris, clangor tubarum ‘ringing of the air, the sound of trumpets’. Óláfr’s explanation makes it clear that this word refers to a bell (TGT 1927, 81): Hér er framfæring af hljóði til máls ok líking óeiginlig milli klokku ok hljóðs ‘Here there is a transfer from a sound to speech and an improper comparison between a bell and a sound’. The word also occurs in Fjölsvinnsmál 10/1, where it is the name of a gate. — [3] háva ‘tall’: Although W’s reading þunga ‘heavy’ (adopted in Skj B) suits the sense of the stanza better, it results in three alliterative staves and the reading of A provides skothending with þó.

References

1. Bibliography
2. TGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
3. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
4. 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.
5. SnE 1848 = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1848. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, eða Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál og Háttatal. Reykjavík: Prentsmiðja landsins.
6. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
7. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
8. TGT 1927 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1927b. Óláfr Þórðarson: Málhljóða- og málskrúðsrit. Grammatisk-retorisk afhandling. Det kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Historisk-filologiske meddelelser 13, 2. Copenhagen: Høst.
9. SnE 1818 = Rask, Rasmus Kristian, ed. 1818a. Snorra Edda ásamt Skáldu og þarmeð fylgjandi ritgjörðum. Stockholm: Elmen.
10. Holtz, Louis, ed. 1981. Donat et la tradition de l’enseignement grammatical: Étude sur l’Ars Donari et sa diffusion (IVe-IXe siècle) et édition critique. Paris: Centre national de la recherche scientifique.