KormǪ Sigdr 3^III

Eykr með ennidúki
jarðhljótr día fjarðar
breyti, hún sás beinan
bindr; seið Yggr til Rindar.

{Jarðhljótr}, sás bindr beinan hún, eykr {breyti {fjarðar día}} með ennidúki; Yggr seið til Rindar.

{The land-recipient} [RULER], who secures the straight mast, honours {the arranger {of the fjord of the gods}} [POETRY > POET] with a headband; Yggr <= Óðinn> obtained Rindr <giantess> through sorcery.

Mss: R(21r), R(36v), Tˣ(21v), Tˣ(38v), W(45), U(26r-v), U(36r), A(12v), C(6r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Eykr: Eyk U(36r);    ‑dúki: ‘[…]ki’ U(26r)    [2] jarð‑: ‘iardr’ U(36r);    ‑hljótr: hlutr R(21r), R(36v), Tˣ(21v), Tˣ(38v), W, U(26r), U(36r), A, hlut C;    fjarðar: so all others, ‘farþar’ R(21r)    [3] breyti: ‘breitti’ Tˣ(38v), ‘bæiti’ A;    hún: húns R(36v), Tˣ(21v), Tˣ(38v), C, húnn W, U(26r), U(36r);    beinan: beiðan R(36v), beinir A    [4] seið: skeið Tˣ(21v);    Yggr: ‘ykr’ U(26r), U(36r), ykkr C

Editions: Skj AI, 79, Skj BI, 69, Skald I, 42, NN §§261, 2501B, 2511; SnE 1848-87, I, 236-7, 470, II, 304, 340, 448, 592, III, 4-5, 97, SnE 1931, 90, 166, SnE 1998, I, 9, 85.

Context: The helmingr is cited twice in some mss of Skm (SnE), first as an example of a heiti for Óðinn. The helmingr’s second citation is meant to exemplify the term díar ‘gods’.

Notes: [1] ennidúki ‘a headband’: Lit. ‘forehead-cloth’. Headbands of silk and wool with gold and silver ornamentation are known to have existed during the Viking Age; people wearing them may have had a specially exalted social rank or status (Hägg 2000, 619-20). The gift of such a headband to a skald probably had more than material importance: it could perhaps be interpreted as a sign of inclusion in a special rank in the court hierarchy. Cf. also Eskál Vell 13/1-3^I, where Hákon jarl is referred to as the wearer of a silk headband. — [2] jarðhljótr ‘the land-recipient [RULER]’: Although all mss have a form of the noun hlutr ‘lot, share’, the cpd jarðhlutr ‘earth-share’ makes no sense in the context, because the phrase ‘… honours with a headband’ requires a subject like ‘ruler’. The present emendation was suggested in Skj B and has been adopted by all subsequent eds (see also Finnur Jónsson 1931, 110). Comparable ruler-kennings are found in Eskál Vell 36/1, 4^I and Hfr Lv 11/7^V (Hallfr 14). — [2, 3] breyti fjarðar día ‘the arranger of the fjord of the gods [POETRY > POET]’: For breyti see Note to l. 3. Díar is a word for ‘gods’ borrowed from Irish (Bugge 1889a, 7; Finnur Jónsson 1931, 111), and it is attested only here in skaldic poetry. Snorri’s use of the word in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85) and Hkr (Yng ch. 2, ÍF 26, 11) is probably inspired by this stanza. The poem-kenning is somewhat unusual in that the determinants in such kennings are normally ‘dwarfs’, ‘giants’ or ‘Óðinn’ and not ‘gods’, although there are some parallels (cf. Meissner 429-30). — [3] breyti ‘the arranger’: Line 3 of this helmingr is difficult and has prompted extensive discussion. This is an A2-line, in which a sentence boundary falling between breyti and hún would be unusual (cf. Kuhn 1983, 137-40; Gade 1995a, 166-7). Because of the semantic and syntactic problems (see below) this edn takes breyti and hún as two separate words and not as a cpd despite the fact that this violates metrical rules. Breyti ‘the arranger’ belongs to the poet-kenning, and hún ‘top of the mast’ is the object of bindr ‘binds’ in the rel. clause (cf. SnE 1848-87, I, 236-7; Finnur Jónsson 1931,110; Skj B; Reichardt 1928, 181-2; NN §261). Some scholars (Mohr 1933, 88; Wood 1959a, 309) choose a cpd breytihún as a base-word in the poet-kenning, which would be metrically correct. However, the interpretation of such a cpd is difficult because húnn has several meanings: ‘young man’; ‘small bear’; ‘piece in a board game’; ‘mast-head’ (possibly pars pro toto for ‘mast’). In principle, each meaning might fit here. According to Mohr (1933, 88 n. 37) and Kock (NN §2501B), the poet is calling himself ‘little bear’; Wood (1959a, 309) translates húnn as ‘young one’. In addition to these semantic problems, the rel. clause sás bindr beinan lit. ‘who binds smooth/straight’ is left without an object, which must be supplied from the main clause (ennidúki ‘headband’, l. 1) (Mohr loc. cit.). — [3-4] sás bindr beinan hún ‘who secures the straight mast’: According to Falk (1912, 59) and Jesch (2001a, 160-1), húnn is the upper, cube-shaped tip of a mast, with a hole through which the rope securing the sail was drawn, which is taken here as a pars pro toto for ‘mast’. This would mean that the ruler is being characterised as a brave seafarer, cf. Finnur Jónsson (1931, 111; Skj B). He interprets the rel. clause sás bindr hún as ‘who ties (the sail) to the mast-head’. Kock’s (NN §§261, 2511) alternative suggestion that hún is a bear that is tied up by the ruler is unconvincing. — [4] Yggr seið til Rindar ‘Yggr <= Óðinn> obtained Rindr <giantess> through sorcery’: The abutted clause alludes to a myth told by Saxo Grammaticus (Saxo 2005, I, 3, 4, 1-8, pp. 204-9) about a child who was conceived to be the avenger of Balderus (ON Baldr). Othinus (ON Óðinn), having been rejected repeatedly by Rinda (ON Rindr), resorts to magic to achieve his aims. Seiðr is a type of magic which appears to have been a particular, possibly despised form of sorcery that could influence the psyche of the victim and attempt to take it over (cf. Yng ch. 7, ÍF 26, 19; on seiðr cf. ARG I, 330-3). One could link the stál to the content of the rest of the stanza by regarding seið as a form of possession, i.e. Óðinn practices sorcery to conquer and possess Rindr. This has direct ties to the mythological model for claiming and owning land, namely, that of land ownership as an erotic relationship between land and ruler, which is a topos intimately connected with Hákon jarl (see Ström 1983) and used extensively in Hfr Hákdr. The conquering of Rindr by Óðinn, then, becomes a mythological model of land ownership reflected in the ruler-kenning jarðhljótr ‘land-recipient’. On Rindr, see Note to Þul Ásynja 2/2.

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. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
9. Bugge, Sophus. 1889a. ‘Om versene i Kormáks saga’. ÅNOH, 1-88.
10. Falk, Hjalmar. 1912. Altnordisches Seewesen. Wörter und Sachen 4. Heidelberg: Winter.
11. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1983. Das Dróttkvætt. Heidelberg: Winter.
12. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
13. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
14. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
15. Saxo 2005 = Friis-Jensen, Karsten, ed. 2005. Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum / Danmarkshistorien. Trans. Peter Zeeberg. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Det danske sprog- og litteraturselskab & Gads forlag.
16. Mohr, Wolfgang. 1933. Kenningstudien. Beiträge zur Stilgeschichte der altgermanischen Dichtung. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer.
17. Reichardt, Konstantin. 1928. Studien zu den Skalden des 9. und 10. Jahrhunderts. Palaestra 159. Leipzig: Mayer & Müller.
18. Ström, Folke. 1983. ‘Hieros gamos-motivet i Hallfreðr Óttarssons Hákonardrápa och den nordnorska jarlavärdigheten’. ANF 98, 67-79.
19. ARG = Vries, Jan de. 1956-7. Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte. 2 vols. 2nd edn. Berlin: de Gruyter.
20. Hägg, Inga. 2000. ‘Kleidung’. In RGA, 16, 603-25.
21. Finnur Jónsson. 1931. ‘Kormákr Ögmundarson’. ÅNOH, 107-206.
22. Wood, Cecil. 1959a. ‘Kormak’s stanzas called the Sigurðardrápa’. Neophilologus 43, 305-19.
23. Internal references
24. 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].
25. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=4> (accessed 19 April 2024)
26. (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 19 April 2024)
27. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Ynglinga saga’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=158> (accessed 19 April 2024)
28. Not published: do not cite (Run^VI)
29. Not published: do not cite ()
30. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Ásynja heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 765.
31. Kate Heslop 2017, ‘ Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Hákonardrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 212. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1257> (accessed 19 April 2024)
32. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 13’ 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. 299.
33. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 36’ 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. 328.
34. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2022, ‘Hallfreðar saga 14 (Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Lausavísur 11)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 890.