ESk Øxfl 5^III

Gaf, sás erring ofrar,
ógnprúðr Vana brúðar
þing- Váfaðar -þrøngvir
þróttǫflga mér dóttur.
Ríkr leiddi mey mækis
mótvaldr á beð skaldi
Gefnar glóðum drifna
Gautreks svana brautar.

{Ógnprúðr {Váfaðar þing}þrøngvir}, sás ofrar erring, gaf mér {þróttǫflga dóttur {brúðar Vana}}. {Ríkr {mækis mót}valdr} leiddi {mey Gefnar}, drifna {glóðum {brautar {svana Gautreks}}}, á beð skaldi.

{The battle-proud compeller {of the assembly of Váfuðr <= Óðinn>}} [(lit. ‘Váfuðr’s assembly-compeller’) BATTLE > WARRIOR], who displays courage, gave me {the mightily strong daughter {of the Vanir’s consort}} [= Freyja > = Hnoss (hnoss ‘treasure’)]. {The powerful controller {of the meeting of the sword}} [(lit. ‘meeting-controller of the sword’) BATTLE > WARRIOR] led {the girl of Gefn <= Freyja>} [= Hnoss (hnoss ‘treasure’)], covered {with embers {of the road {of Gautrekr’s <sea-king’s> swans}}} [SHIPS > SEA > GOLD], to the poet’s bed.

Mss: R(28v), Tˣ(29v), W(73), U(30v-31r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] erring: eining U    [3] þing: þings U;    Váfaðar: ‘vaforloga’ U;    þrøngvir: ‘þr[…]vngvir’ U    [4] ‑ǫflga: so all others, ‘ꜹfla’ R;    dóttur: dóttir U    [5] leiddi: leiði U    [6] beð: so Tˣ, U, beið R, W;    skaldi: so all others, skjaldi R    [8] Gautreks: ‘gavtreiks’ U;    svana brautar: ‘svan[…]ravtar’ U

Editions: Skj AI, 478, Skj BI, 450, Skald I, 221, NN §2008H; SnE 1848-87, I, 350-1, II, 320, III, 58, SnE 1931, 126, SnE 1998, I, 44.

Context: Gefn and brúðr Vana ‘consort, bride of the Vanir’ are given in Skm as a heiti and a kenning for the goddess Freyja.

Notes: [All]: In both helmingar there seems to be a double entendre of a sexual nature, in which a warrior gives the poet a treasure, Hnoss, a female supernatural being, leading her to his bed (cf. SnSt Ht 49). — [All]: As in sts 3 and 4 above, Einarr plays on the name of Freyja’s daughter, Hnoss, in two ofljóst constructions, dóttur brúðar Vana ‘the daughter of the Vanir’s consort’ (ll. 2, 4) and mey Gefnar ‘the girl of Gefn’ (ll. 5, 7). — [All]: The stanza follows st. 4 above, connected by ok enn svá ‘and again thus’ (R, Tˣ, W) or ok enn segir hann ‘and again he says’ (U). — [2] brúðar Vana ‘of the Vanir’s consort [= Freyja]’: The Vanir were a family of gods in Old Norse myth that included Njǫrðr, Freyr and Freyja. — [3] Váfaðar þingþrøngvir ‘compeller of the assembly of Váfuðr <= Óðinn> [(lit. ‘Váfuðr’s assembly-compeller’) BATTLE > WARRIOR]’: If the reading of U, þings ‘of the assembly’, is adopted, tmesis can be avoided (þrøngvir þings Váfaðar ‘the compeller of the assembly of Váfuðr’, see NN §2008H), but that reading is not supported by the other ms. witnesses. For the Óðinn-name Váfuðr, see Note to Þul Óðins 5/7. — [8] svana Gautreks ‘of Gautrekr’s <sea-king’s> swans [SHIPS]’: For kennings for ‘ship’ in which the base-word is a species of bird, see Meissner 208, 216. Ships could also have birds’ names, e.g. Óláfr Tryggvason’s Trani or Trana ‘the Crane’ (see Note to Hfr ErfÓl 16/2^I). For the sea-king Gautrekr, see Note to Þul Sækonunga 5/3.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
7. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
8. Internal references
9. (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)
10. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ 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. 383.
11. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sækonunga heiti 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 685.
12. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 743.
13. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 16’ 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. 422.
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 49’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1158.