ÚlfrU Húsdr 1^III

Hjaldrgegnis telk Hildar
hugreifum Ôleifi
(hann vilk at gjǫf Grímnis)
geðfjarðar lô (kveðja).

Telk hugreifum Ôleifi {lô {geðfjarðar} {{Hildar hjaldr}gegnis}}; vilk kveðja hann at {gjǫf Grímnis}.

I recite {the water {of the mind-fjord} [BREAST] {of the promoter {of the noise of Hildr <valkyrie>}}} [(lit. ‘noise-promoter of Hildr’) BATTLE > = Óðinn > POEM] for the glad-hearted Óláfr; I want to summon him to {the gift of Grímnir <= Óðinn>} [POEM].

Mss: R(21v), Tˣ(22r), W(46), U(27r), B(4v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Hjaldrgegnis: so U, hoddmildum all others;    telk (‘tel ek’): so U, tér all others    [2] hug‑: her‑ U    [3] vilk (‘vil ec’): ‘vi ek’ W;    Grímnis: ‘[…]nis’ U    [4] ‑fjarðar: so all others, ‑njarðar R

Editions: Skj AI, 136, Skj BI, 128, Skald I, 71; SnE 1848-87, I, 250, II, 307, 522, III, 14, SnE 1931, 94, SnE 1998, I, 14.

Context: The helmingr is cited in Skm (SnE) among other stanzas illustrating kennings for ‘poetry’.

Notes: [All]: Mss R, Tˣ, W and B give a version of the first line (Hoddmildum tér Hildar) that does not generate a poem-kenning, because lô geðfjarðar ‘water of the mind-fjord [BREAST]’ needs a term for Óðinn as determinant, and only hildar ‘of battle’ or ‘of Hildr’ is available. Such a poem-kenning would follow the pattern of Egill Hfl 1/2, 3^V (Eg 34) marr munstrandar Viðris ‘sea of the mind-beach [BREAST] of Viðrir <= Óðinn> [POEM]’. Ms. U provides the necessary Óðinn-kenning, hjaldrgegnis Hildar ‘of the promoter of the noise of Hildr <valkyrie> [BATTLE > = Óðinn]’, and the U version has therefore been adopted in the present edn (so also Skj B and Skald). SnE 1998 follows R, but this results in an unacceptable word order (see Note to l. 4 geðfjarðar below). — [All]: This stanza has all the characteristics of an opening stanza of a drápa presented to a ruler (cf. Eskál Vell 1^I). It addresses the one to be honoured by name, uses a special formula for the invitation to listen to the poem (see Note to ll. 3, 4) and contains one extended poem-kenning as well as another. The theme of the mead of poetry is taken up again in sts 9 and 12. — [1] telk ‘I recite’: All earlier eds adopt ték ‘I present, I show’, emended from tér (so mss R, Tˣ, W, B). Ms. U offers the semantically more appealing telk (see LP: telja 3), also considered by Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 163), which does not require emendation. Kreutzer’s material (1977, 149-50, 153) shows also that a skald is more likely to use telja than tjá when introducing poetic recitation. — [1] Hildar hjaldrgegnis ‘of the promoter of the noise of Hildr <valkyrie> [(lit. ‘noise-promoter of Hildr’) BATTLE > = Óðinn]’: On kennings referring to Óðinn as an instigator of battle, see Meissner 253. This expression could also be a warrior kenning used for Óðinn, however; cf. sigrunni ‘victory-tree’ used as an Óðinn-kenning (see st. 10/1 and Note there). — [2] hugreifum ‘glad-hearted’: The variant herreifum lit. ‘troop-happy’ (U) is also possible. — [3, 4] vilk kveðja hann at gjǫf Grímnis ‘I want to summon him to the gift of Grímnir <= Óðinn>’: This is a special formula for an invitation to listen to the poem which occurs in several opening stanzas, e.g. in Steinn Frag 1/2 (for other examples see Note there). — [3] Grímnis ‘of Grímnir <= Óðinn>’: On this name for the god, see Note to Þul Óðins 1/7. — [4] geðfjarðar ‘of the mind-fjord [BREAST]’: Unlike the other mss, R has ‘geðniarþar’ here. In an attempt to retain the R reading, Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 285) construes the following poetry-kenning: geð-Njarðar hildar lá ‘liquid of battle-Njǫrðr’s mind (i.e. breast)’. However, literally this kenning translates as ‘the liquid of the mind-Njǫrðr of battle’; to be comprehensible the kenning would need to be rearranged as lá geð(s) Njarðar hildar, which results in an unacceptable word order, because the cpd geð-Njarðar ‘mind-Njǫrðr’ is split and geð- exchanged for the gen. hildar ‘of the battle’. Wisén (1886-9, 19-20) argues that geðfjǫrðr cannot be a kenning for ‘breast’ because base-words in kennings construed according to this pattern always denote a country or a landscape; hence he emends to geðjarðar ‘of the mind-earth’. Fjǫrðr can denote both the watery area of a fjord and the surrounding areas, however (cf. Firðir ‘Fjordane’, a district in Norway).

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. 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.
6. 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.
7. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
8. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
9. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Internal references
11. 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].
12. (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)
13. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 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. 732.
14. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 34 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Hǫfuðlausn 1)’ 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. 240.
15. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 1’ 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. 283.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Steinn Herdísarson, Fragment 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. 388.