EVald Þórr 1^III

Sín bjó Sifjar rúni
snarla framm með karli
— hornstraum getum Hrímnis
hrœra — veiðarfœri.

{Rúni Sifjar} bjó snarla framm veiðarfœri sín með karli; getum hrœra {hornstraum Hrímnis}.

{The confidant of Sif <goddess>} [= Þórr] quickly brought out his fishing gear with the old fellow; we [I] can stir {the horn-stream of Hrímnir <giant>} [POETRY].

Mss: R(21v-22r), Tˣ(22r), W(47), U(27v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Sín: sinn Tˣ, U    [2] með: meðr U    [3] getum: getinn W    [4] hrœra: hræfa U

Editions: Skj AI, 140, Skj BI, 131, Skald I, 72, NN §318; SnE 1848-87, I, 254-5, II, 309, III, 16, SnE 1931, 95, SnE 1998, I, 15.

Notes: [All]: The ordering of stanzas in this edn, as in Skj and Skald, is different from the order in which they are quoted in mss of SnE. In the mss that have what is here numbered st. 2 (R, W, U), it comes before st. 1, while st. 3 comes last in each case. The editorial reordering is based on narrative plausibility and is perhaps supported by the poet’s comment here on his own compositional powers, though, in the absence of the whole of EVald Þórr, this cannot be regarded as a firm guide to the order of stanzas. — [1, 2] bjó snarla framm ‘quickly brought out’: It would also be possible to construe framm with the intercalary clause as Skj B does, getum hrœra framm hornstraum Hrímnis ‘we [I] can advance the horn-stream of Hrímnir [POETRY]’, although this results in unnecessarily fractured syntax (cf. NN §318). — [1] rúni Sifjar ‘the confidant of Sif <goddess> [= Þórr]’: Sif was Þórr’s wife in Old Norse myth (SnE 2005, 26). The kenning-type ‘friend/confidant of a goddess’ was not uncommon in poetry with mythological referents (cf. Meissner 252-3, 255). — [2] með karli ‘with the old fellow’: A reference to the giant Hymir, who accompanied Þórr on his fishing expedition, according to several sources; for the variants, see Meulengracht Sørensen (1986). When Hymir is mentioned in Old Norse poetry, the treatment tends to have a comic edge, as here and in ÚlfrU Húsdr 5/1-2. — [3]: This odd Type A2k-line is rare and archaic (see Kuhn 1983, 140; Gade 1995a, 140). Together with the heathen content of the poem, this metrical feature suggests an early date of composition. — [3-4] getum hrœra hornstraum Hrímnis ‘we [I] can stir the horn-stream of Hrímnir <giant> [POETRY]’: In other words, ‘I am able to compose poetry’. The kenning, like most poetry-kennings, refers to the myth of the origin of the mead of poetry (see SnE 1998, I, 3-5).

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. 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.
7. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
8. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1983. Das Dróttkvætt. Heidelberg: Winter.
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. Meulengracht Sørensen, Preben. 1986. ‘Thor’s Fishing Expedition’. In Steinsland 1986a, 257-78. Rpt. in Acker and Larrington 2002, 119-37.
13. Internal references
14. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
15. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Eysteinn Valdason, Poem about Þórr’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 185. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1156> (accessed 6 May 2024)
16. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Úlfr Uggason, Húsdrápa 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. 414.