Eil Þdr 13^III

Dreif fyr dróttar kneyfi
dolg-Svíþjóðar kolgu
(sótti ferð á flótta)
flesdrótt í vô (nesja),
þás funhristis fasta
(flóðrifs Danir) stóðu
(knôttu) Jólnis ættir
(útvés fyrir lúta),

{Flesdrótt} dreif í vô fyr {kneyfi {dróttar {kolgu dolg-Svíþjóðar}}}; {ferð nesja} sótti á flótta, þás {{{Jólnis fun}hristis} ættir} stóðu fasta; {Danir {útvés {flóðrifs}}} knôttu lúta fyrir,

{The skerry-host} [GIANTS] rushed into disaster because of {the oppressor {of the host {of the cold wave of the hostile Sweden}}} [= Gandvík > GIANTS > = Þórr]; {the troop of headlands} [GIANTS] took to flight, when {the group {of the shaker {of the flame of Jólnir <= Óðinn>}}} [(lit. ‘group of the flame-shaker of Jólnir’) SWORD > WARRIOR > WARRIORS = Þórr and Þjálfi] stood firm; {the Danes {of the outlying sanctuary {of the sea-rib}}} [STONE > COAST > GIANTS] fell before [them],

Mss: R(25r), Tˣ(25v), W(53) (SnE)

Readings: [1] fyr: með all    [2] kolgu: so Tˣ, W, kolga R    [4] í vô: ‘iue’ Tˣ    [5] ‑hristis: ‑ristis R, Tˣ, ‘‑ristil’ W;    fasta: falla Tˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 150, Skj BI, 142, Skald I, 78, NN §§303B, C, 458, 459, 3396L; SnE 1848-87, I, 298-9, III, 33-4, SnE 1931, 109, SnE 1998, I, 28.

Context: See Context to st. 1.

Notes: [1] dreif ‘rushed’: For drífa in the meaning ‘go away, move on’, see Fritzner: drífa 6. — [1] fyr ‘because of’: All mss read með ‘with’, but that makes no sense in the context, because the giants are not fleeing with Þórr, but from him (Finnur Jónsson 1900b, 391; Skj B; NN §458; Reichardt 1948, 367). Therefore all eds except Kiil (1956, 135) and Davidson (1983, 617-18) emend með (all mss.) to fyr. — [1-2] kneyfi dróttar kolgu dolg-Svíþjóðar ‘the oppressor of the host of the wave of the hostile Sweden [= Gandvík > GIANTS > = Þórr]’: Line 2 must contain a determinant for dróttar ‘of the host’ (l. 1) to form a kenning that refers to a giant of whom Þórr can be the oppressor (kneyfir). To avoid construing a kenning in which dolg ‘enemy’ (l. 2) is connected with ferð ‘troop’ (l. 3) to form a cpd (tmesis) (so Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1851, 14; Finnur Jónsson 1900b, 392), dolg could be taken as the first element of a cpd with Svíþjóðar as the second element (so NN §458; Davidson 1983, 618). Dolg-Svíþjóðar ‘of the hostile Sweden’ is then a variation on ‘enemy land’, which needs another determinant, namely, kolgu ‘of the wave’. Kolgu dolg-Svíþjóðar ‘of the cold wave of the hostile Sweden’ can be interpreted as a kenning for Gandvík, the White Sea (see Note to st. 2/6). Thus the giant-kenning ‘the host of the White Sea’ corresponds to the giant-kenning ‘the Scots of Gandvík’ in st. 2. According to Kock (NN §458) the kenning kolga dolg-Svíþjóðar refers to the river Þórr has to cross. Reichardt (1948, 368) forms the cpd dolg-kolgu (l. 2) and construes dróttar Svíþjóðar dolg-kolgu ‘the host of the land of the hostile wave’. This solution also seems acceptable, although it contains tmesis (but within the same line). — [3, 4] ferð nesja ‘the troop of headlands [GIANTS]’: Here, too, cliffs and islands of a coastal landscape serve as the determinant in a giant-kenning (see Notes to st. 12/6 and ll. 6, 8 below). — [4] flesdrótt ‘the skerry-host [GIANTS]’: This kenning is a variation on the giant-kenning ‘people of the rocks’. — [5, 7] Jólnis funhristis ættir ‘the group of the shaker of the flame of Jólnir <= Óðinn> [(lit. ‘group of the flame-shaker of Jólnir’) SWORD > WARRIOR > WARRIORS = Þórr and Þjálfi]’: Here again, a kenning for ‘warriors’ is used for Þórr and Þjálfi (see Marold 1990a, 122-8 and Introduction above). The warrior is described as ‘shaker of the sword’ and the sword is called ‘flame of Jólnir <= Óðinn>’. For the emendation funhristis see below. Ætt is not only a term for ‘family, kin’ but is often used as a general term for ‘group’ (LP: ætt 2), and together with the gen. it functions as a paraphrase here (‘the group of the warrior’ are ‘warriors’). That ætt is used in pl. can be explained by the fact that occasionally the pl. of a word is used for the sg. for metrical reasons; here the sg. is ætt, but the cadence requires two syllables (hence ættir rather than ætt). Finnur Jónsson (1900b, 391; Skj B and LP: funristis) and Reichardt (1948, 369) could not explain mss’ ‘funristis’ (R, Tˣ) or ‘funristil’ (W), but Kock (NN §459, followed by Davidson 1983, 620) suggests emendation to funhristis ‘flame-thrower’, which he then combines with fasta ‘of lightning’ to get a Þórr-kenning. As Reichardt (1948, 369) rightly observes, however, fasti and fun are synonyms; hence fasti cannot determine fun. — [6, 8] Danir útvés flóðrifs ‘the Danes of the outlying sanctuary of the sea-rib [STONE > COAST > GIANTS]’: Here, again, the determinant of the giant-kenning is the coastal landscape. Flóðrifs ‘of the sea-rib [STONE]’ by itself would be sufficient as the determinant in a giant-kenning, but in this particular stanza the determinants of the giant-kennings are words chosen from the domain of a steep coastal landscape, such as fles- ‘skerries’, nesja ‘headlands’ and, here, útvé. In the latter case, vé ‘sanctuary’ is a variation on ‘dwelling, residence’ (Finnur Jónsson 1900b, 392; LP: útvé). Kock (NN §459) and Reichardt (1948, 369) combine útvés with ættir Jólnis which gives the kenning ‘families of the deity of the far-off dwelling [GIANTS]’; Kiil’s (1956, 137-8) interpretation is closely similar, except that he regards Jólnir útvés ‘the deity of the far-off dwelling’ as a kenning for the giant Geirrøðr.

References

1. Bibliography
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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.
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