Bragi Rdr 9^III

Bauða sú til bleyði
bœti-Þrúðr at móti
malma mætum hilmi
men dreyrugra benja.
Svá lét ey, þótt etti,
sem orrostu letti,
jǫfrum ulfs at sinna
með algífris lifru.

{Sú bœti-Þrúðr dreyrugra benja} bauða mætum hilmi men til bleyði at {móti malma}. Svá lét ey, sem letti orrostu, þótt etti jǫfrum at sinna með {lifru algífris ulfs}.

{That curing-Þrúðr <goddess> of bloody wounds} [VALKYRIE = Hildr] did not offer the splendid ruler the neck-ring for the sake of cowardice at {the assembly of weapons} [BATTLE]. Thus she continually behaved as if she was hindering the battle, although she was inciting the princes to accompany {the sister of the complete monster of a wolf [Fenrir]} [= Hel].

Mss: R(34v), Tˣ(36r), W(79) (SnE)

Readings: [1] bleyði: ‘brodi’ Tˣ    [3] mætum: mærum Tˣ;    hilmi: so Tˣ, W, ‘hilm’ R    [4] dreyrugra: so Tˣ, W, ‘dreruga’ R    [6] orrostu: so Tˣ, W, orrosta R    [7] at: of Tˣ, of corrected from another word both on and above the line in scribal hand W

Editions: Skj AI, 2, Skj BI, 2, Skald I, 2, NN §§193, 1853I; SnE 1848-87, I, 436-7, III, 84, SnE 1931, 155, SnE 1998, I, 73.

Context: As for st. 8.

Notes: [1, 2, 4] sú bœti-Þrúðr dreyrugra benja ‘that curing-Þrúðr <goddess> of bloody wounds [VALKYRIE = Hildr]’: A kenning with a specific reference to Hildr, formed similarly to ósk-Rôn ofþerris æða ‘the desiring-Rán <goddess> of the excessive drying of veins [VALKYRIE = Hildr]’ (st. 8/1, 2) and hristi-Sif hringa ‘shaking-Sif <goddess> of rings [VALKYRIE = Hildr]’ (st. 8/5), where the base-word is a cpd of an adj. formed from a verb (or, in the case of ósk-Rôn, a noun) plus goddess name (in this case Þórr’s daughter Þrúðr) and the determinant alludes to Hildr’s life-threatening, battle-promoting intentions. This kenning must be ironic; Hildr cured wounds in order to revive the warriors to fight again. — [1] til bleyði ‘for the sake of cowardice’: The sense is that Hildr did not offer Hǫgni the neck-ring in order to prevent her father fighting by presenting him with atonement for Heðinn’s abduction of her. Rather, her intention was the opposite. Exactly how she provoked Hǫgni is not clear. Snorri’s prose account states only that she made it plain that Heðinn would not capitulate. For a view that shameful connotations of the ring itself may have played a part in her provocation, see Clunies Ross (1973b). — [7-8] at sinna með lifru algífris ulfs ‘to accompany the sister of the complete monster of a wolf [Fenrir] [= Hel]’: The general sense of the lines is that Hildr incited the princes (Hǫgni and Heðinn) to join the company of Hel, guardian of the dead and the underworld, that is, she egged them on to their deaths. Hel was one of three monstrous offspring of the god Loki, another of whom was the wolf, Fenrir, referred to here. The status of the word algífris ‘completely monstrous’ (l. 8) is debated. It is here understood as a descriptive gen. of algífri ‘complete monster’ (so SnE 1998, II, 233), taken with ulfs (l. 7), so ‘of the complete monster of a wolf’. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) takes ulfs with lifru ‘sister’ (l. 8) and construes til at rejse til det fuldkomne uhyre, ulvens søster ‘to travel to the complete monster, the wolf’s sister’. Kock (NN §193, though not in Skald) takes algífris with lifru to form a cpd, construing ulfs algífrislifru ‘the wolf’s very monstrous sister’. — [8] lifru ‘the sister’: A hap. leg. in recorded poetry although the m. equivalent lifri is a little more common (see LP: lifra, lifri; AEW: lifr ‘liver’).

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. 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. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
9. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Clunies Ross, Margaret. 1973b. ‘Hildr’s Ring: A Problem in the Ragnarsdrápa, Strophes 8-12’. MS 6, 75-92.