SnSt Ht 22^III

Himinglæva strýkr hávar
— hrǫnn skilja sog — þiljur;
lǫgstíga vill lœgir
ljótr fagrdrasil brjóta.
Lýsheims náir ljóma
— líðr ár — of gram blíðum
— uðr rekkir kjǫl kløkkvan
kǫld — eisa; far geisar.

Himinglæva strýkr hávar þiljur; sog skilja hrǫnn; ljótr lœgir vill brjóta {fagrdrasil lǫgstíga}. {Eisa {lýsheims}} náir ljóma of blíðum gram; ár líðr; kǫld uðr rekkir kløkkvan kjǫl; far geisar.

Himinglæva <wave> strokes tall planks; keels split the breaker; the hideous sea wants to break {the fair steed of sea-paths} [SHIP]. {Fire {of the pollack-home}} [SEA > GOLD] can shine above the gentle prince; the year passes; the cold wave emboldens the flexible keel; the vessel speeds on.

Mss: R(47v), Tˣ(49v), W(142), U(47r) (l. 1), U(51v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] hávar: ‘.h.’ U(47r)    [2] hrǫnn: ‘hravn’ W, ‘hren’ U;    sog: ‘sǫg’ W, ‘sæg’ U    [3] ‑stíga: ‑skíða W, ‑stígu U;    vill: bil U;    lœgir: ‘leugir’ Tˣ, lægis U    [4] fagr‑: veðr W;    ‑drasil: so W, ‑drasill R, U, ‘drûsil’ Tˣ    [5] ‑heims: ‘‑keims’ U;    ljóma: ljósu W    [7] kløkkvan: so all others, kykkvan R

Editions: Skj AII, 58, Skj BII, 67, Skald II, 38, NN §§2176, 2572; SnE 1848-87, I, 632-3, II, 370, 384, III, 116, SnE 1879-81, I, 4, 76, II, 12, SnE 1931, 226, SnE 2007, 14; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 14-15.

Context: Snorri calls this variant refhvǫrf in minnsta ‘the least fox-turns’. The refhvǫrf occurs in the first two words of ll. 4 and 8.

Notes: [All]: The headings are xv. háttr ‘the fifteenth verse-form’ (Tˣ); in þriðja ‘the third’ (U(47r)). — [All]: The words that form the antitheses are ljótr ‘ugly’ : fagr- ‘fair’ (l. 4) and kǫld ‘cold’ : eisa ‘fire’ (l. 8). — [1] Himinglæva ‘Himinglæva <wave>’: One of Ægir’s daughters and the personification of ‘wave’. See Notes to ESk Frag 17/2, Þul Waves l. 4 and Þul Sjóvar 4/4. — [3] lǫg- ‘sea-’: Altered to ‘linn-’ or ‘lvn-’ in R (R*). — [4] -drasil (m. acc. sg.) ‘steed’: So W. The nom. -drasill in R has been altered to the acc. -drasil (R*). For drasill as a heiti for ‘horse’, see Note to Anon Kálfv 1/1 (see also Þul Hesta 3/4). — [5] lýsheims (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the pollack-home’: Lýr(r) is a pollack (Pollachius pollachius), a species of saltwater fish. — [6] ár líðr ‘the year passes’: This clause could also be taken in the meaning ‘the oar moves’ (NN §2572), which is less likely in view of the content of sts 21 and 23. Moreover, the verb líða is normally used for travelling rather than small-scale motion to and fro (see also sts 23/2 and 94/6). — [7] rekkir ‘emboldens’: Kock (NN §2176) suggests a meaning ‘enliven, make dance’, whereas Finnur Jónsson gives gör stærk ‘makes strong’ (Skj B) or prøver (dens kraft, der viser sig uforminsket) ‘tests (its strength, which proves to be undiminished)’ (LP: 2. rekkja). Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) has sætter i rask bevægelse ‘puts into swift motion’ (so also SnE 1879-81, I, 110: beschleunigen, antreiben ‘speed up, urge on’). The weak verb rekkja is derived from the adj. rakkr ‘bold’ (see AEW: rekkja 2). — [7] kløkkvan ‘flexible’: In R, ‘kykkvan’ has been altered to ‘klꜹkkvan’ (R*).

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. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. SnE 1879-81 = Möbius, Theodor, ed. 1879-81. Hattatal Snorra Sturlusonar. 2 vols. Halle an de Saale: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.
12. Internal references
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Kálfsvísa 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 664.
14. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hesta heiti 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 937.
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sjóvar heiti 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 836.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Fragments 17’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 167.
17. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Heiti for waves’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 996. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=2988> (accessed 16 April 2024)