Bragi Þórr 5^III

Þás forns Litar flotna
á fangboða ǫngli
hrøkkviáll of hrokkinn
hekk Vǫlsunga drekku.

Þás {hrøkkviáll {drekku Vǫlsunga}} hekk of hrokkinn á ǫngli {fangboða {flotna forns Litar}}.

When {the coiling eel {of the drink of the Vǫlsungar}} [POISON > = Miðgarðsormr] hung coiled up on the fishing hook {of the wrestling-challenger {of the followers of ancient Litr <giant>}} [GIANTS > = Þórr].

Mss: R(30v), Tˣ(32r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] forns: ‘fons’ Tˣ    [3] hrøkkvi‑: ‘hrockui’ Tˣ;    hrokkinn: so Tˣ, hrokkin R

Editions: Skj AI, 4, Skj BI, 4, Skald I, 2; SnE 1848-87, I, 370-1, III, 58-9, SnE 1931, 134, SnE 1998, I, 50.

Context: This helmingr is cited (immediately before Rdr 3-7) in a section of Skm that narrates a number of heroic stories concerning Sigurðr Fáfnisbani ‘Fáfnir’s slayer’ and his kin in order to explain the origin of various gold-kennings. At the point where this helmingr is cited, the narrative explains that Sigurðr’s father Sigmundr, son of Vǫlsungr, was so tough that he could drink poison without ill effect, thus providing the rationale for Bragi’s kenning drekka Vǫlsunga ‘drink of the Vǫlsungar’. The helmingr is introduced in R with the words Því hefir Bragi skáld svá kveðit ‘Therefore Bragi the poet has composed in this way’.

Notes: [All]: This helmingr is a dependent clause, obviously following another helmingr containing a main clause. — [1] Litar ‘of Litr <giant>’: Litr is not named elsewhere as a giant, though the kenning type (cf. Meissner 256) makes his identity as a giant here almost certain. Litr appears as a dwarf-name in Vsp 12/4 and several other places (cf. SnE 1998, II, 489) and once as an ox-heiti (Þul Øxna 2/5). Litr was also the name of the dwarf that Þórr kicked into the fire at Baldr’s funeral (SnE 2005, 46). The common noun litr means ‘colour’, especially the colour of the sky at dawn or dusk. — [3] hrøkkviáll … of hrokkinn ‘the coiling eel … coiled up’: Hrøkkvi- and of hrokkinn (p. p.) both derive from the verb hrøkkva ‘curl, move violently, coil’, producing a stylistic effect similar to what Snorri Sturluson identified in Ht (SnE 2007, 22) as iðurmælt ‘repeatedly spoken’ or dunhent ‘echoing-rhymed’.

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. 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.
5. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
6. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
7. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
8. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Internal references
10. (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)
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Háttatal’ 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=165> (accessed 26 April 2024)
13. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Øxna 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. 887.
14. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Ragnarsdrápa 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. 31.
15. Not published: do not cite ()