Bragi Þórr 6^III

Vildit vrǫngum ofra
vágs byrsendir œgi,
hinns mjótygil máva
mœrar skar fyr Þóri.

{Byrsendir vágs} vildit ofra vrǫngum œgi, hinns skar {mjótygil {mœrar máva}} fyr Þóri.

{The wind-sender of the sea} [GIANT = Hymir] did not want to raise up the twisted terrifier, he who cut {the slender string {of the marshland of seagulls}} [SEA > FISHING LINE] for Þórr.

Mss: R(38v), Tˣ(40r), A(13v), B(6r), 744ˣ(37r), C(8r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] vrǫngum (‘vrꜷngvm’): so A, rǫngum R, ‘raungon’ Tˣ, ‘o ro᷎ngum’ B, vǫngum C    [2] vágs: ‘vógs’ B;    byr‑: so Tˣ, C, byr‑ with b corrected in scribal hand from incipient h R, hyr‑ A, B;    œgi (‘ægi’): ‘egi’ Tˣ, ‘e᷎gi’ B    [3] hinns (‘hinn er’): ‘ænn’ A;    ‑tygil: so all others, tygill R    [4] mœrar: so A, C, ‘mórar’ R, Tˣ, ‘[…]ra[…]’ B, ‘me᷎rar’ 744ˣ;    skar: ‘ska’ Tˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 4, Skj BI, 4, Skald I, 2, NN §§1772 n., 2205F, 2206D; SnE 1848-87, I, 504-5, II, 453, 536, 601, III, 105, SnE 1931, 177, SnE 1998, I, 96.

Context: The helmingr is cited in a section of Skm that gives quotations demonstrating various terms for the sea and waves. Though it appears to be from the same poem as Bragi Þórr 1-5, it is isolated in Skm from other stanzas identified as Bragi’s. The helmingr is introduced by Vágr, sem Bragi kvað ‘Sea [or ‘bay’], as Bragi said’.

Notes: [1] vrǫngum ‘twisted’: The spelling with initial <vr> is an archaism in Old Icelandic, [v] having been dropped in initial position before [r] in the preliterate period. However, it persisted in Old Norwegian and, as Bragi was a Norwegian, its presence here may be due to his ethnicity. See Fidjestøl (1999, 231-45) for a review of this phenomenon (especially 232 and n. 9), which Óláfr Þórðarson in TGT (TGT 1884, 87) termed vinðandin forna, the archaic use of the symbol venð <w>, cf. OE wenn, wynn. — [2] byrsendir vágs ‘the wind-sender of the ocean [GIANT = Hymir]’: The hap. leg. cpd byrsendir ‘wind-sender’ is to be understood in connection with mythological associations between giants, like Hræsvelgr, and the generation of wind (cf. SnE 2005, 20). This reading was proposed by Kock (NN §2205F). On the associations between supernatural beings in Old Norse and the raising of wind, see Perkins (2001). Skj B (cf. LP: hyrsendir, vágr 2) adopts the variant reading hyrsendir ‘fire-sender’, construing it with vágs as a man-kenning ‘sender of the fire of the bay [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’, a rather inappropriate kenning for Hymir! Vágr means either the sea, especially when disturbed by wind (LP: vágr 1), or a bay (LP: vágr 2). It is also possible to construe vágs (l. 2) with vrǫngum œgi ‘twisted terrifier’ (ll. 1, 2) to produce a kenning for Miðgarðsormr vrǫngum œgi vágs ‘twisted terrifier of the ocean [= Miðgarðsormr]’. — [2] œgi ‘terrifier’: Understood here as from œgir m. (cf. 3/3 above), and so a term for the World Serpent (cf. NN §2206D), rather than from ægir m. ‘ocean’, whether as a common noun or personified as Ægir, a giant representing the sea. Skj B construes Vágs hyrsendir vildit ofra vrǫngum ægi as Manden … vilde ikke yppe strid mod den grumme sø ‘The man [Hymir] … did not want to pick a quarrel with the cruel sea’. However, the mss’ ægi are likely to reflect the unrounding of [ø:] to [æ:], which occurred by at least c. 1220 (Hreinn Benediktsson 1965, 67-70). — [4] mœrar ‘of the marshland’: Here understood as from the common noun mœrr ‘marshland’ and the base-word of a sea-kenning; however, it is possible that the regional name Mœrr, now Møre, in Norway, is specifically intended (cf. SnE 1998, I, 96 and II, 493).

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
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. Hreinn Benediktsson. 1965. Early Icelandic Script as Illustrated in Vernacular Texts from the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. Íslenzk Handrit/Icelandic Manuscript Series in Folio II. Reykjavík: The Manuscript Institute of Iceland.
9. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
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. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1999. The Dating of Eddic Poetry. Ed. Odd Einar Haugen. BA 41. Copenhagen: Reitzel.
13. Perkins, Richard. 2001. Thor the Wind-Raiser and the Eyrarland Image. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
14. Internal references
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson, The Third Grammatical Treatise’ in Tarrin Wills (ed.), The Third Grammatical Treatise. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=32> (accessed 24 April 2024)
16. (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 24 April 2024)
17. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Þórr’s fishing 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. 47.