Þhorn Harkv 12^I

‘Valr lá þar á sandi         vitinn inum eineygja
Friggjar faðmbyggvi;         fǫgnuðum dôð slíkri.

‘Valr lá þar á sandi, vitinn {inum eineygja faðmbyggvi Friggjar}; fǫgnuðum slíkri dôð.

‘The slain lay there on the sand, dedicated {to the one-eyed embrace-occupier of Frigg <goddess>} [= Óðinn]; we welcomed such doings.

Mss: R(21r), W(45) (SnE)

Readings: [1] sandi: corrected from landi W    [2] vitinn inum: so W, vitinum R;    ‑eygja: ‘æyia’ W

Editions: Skj AI, 26, Skj BI, 24, Skald I, 15; SnE 1848-87, I, 236-7, SnE 1931, 89, SnE 1998, I, 8; Möbius 1860, 229, Jón Helgason 1946, 145, Jón Helgason 1968, 18.

Context: Snorri cites the helmingr in SnE (Skm) among others illustrating skaldic references to Óðinn (mostly kenningar).

Notes: [All]: The helmingr is ascribed in SnE to Þjóðólfr ór Hvini. — [2] vitinn ‘dedicated’: On sacrifice to the god of war, see Kuhn (1954, 423), and Davidson (1964, 55-7). — [2-3] inum eineygja faðmbyggvi Friggjar ‘to the one-eyed embrace-occupier of Frigg <goddess> [= Óðinn]’: Frigg is Óðinn’s wife. According to SnE (2005, 17; cf. Vsp 27-8), he was obliged to give one eye as a pledge to Mímir when he requested a drink from Mímir’s spring, a source of wisdom. — [4] fǫgnuðum ‘we welcomed’: The self-reference accords with that in st. 4, and the sentiment seems appropriate to a raven, so it is not implausible that this helmingr should belong with sts 7-11 about Hafrsfjǫrðr, though there is nothing in the ms. context to suggest a connection. See the discussion of the poem’s unity in the Introduction.

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. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
5. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
6. Möbius, Theodor. 1860. Edda Sæmundar hins fróða. Mit einem Anhang bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig: Hinrichs.
7. Jón Helgason, ed. 1968. Skjaldevers. 3rd edn. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
8. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1954. ‘Gaut’. In Wiese et al. 1954, 417-33. Rpt. in Kuhn (1899) 1969-78, II, 364-77.
9. Davidson, H. R. Ellis. 1964. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
10. Jón Helgason. 1946. ‘Haraldskvæði’. Tímarit Máls og menningar, 131-46.
11. Internal references
12. 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].
13. (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)
14. Edith Marold 2017, ‘(Biography of) Þjóðólfr ór Hvini’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 431.
15. Not published: do not cite ()