Eil Þdr 7III/4 — háfs ‘of the fish trap’
Þar í mǫrk fyrir markar
málhvettan byr settu
(né hvélvǫlur Hallar
háfs) skotnaðra (svôfu).
Knátti, hreggi hǫggvin*,
hlymþél við mǫl glymja,
en fellihryn fjalla
Feðju þaut með steðja.
Þar settu skotnaðra í mǫrk háfs fyrir málhvettan byr markar; né svôfu hvélvǫlur Hallar. Hlymþél knátti glymja við mǫl, en hreggi hǫggvin* fellihryn fjalla þaut með steðja Feðju.
There they set shot-adders [SPEARS] in the borderland of the fish trap [RIVER] against the chattering wind of the borderland [RIVER]; the wheel-knuckles of Hǫll <river> [STONES] did not sleep. The din-file [SPEAR] resounded against the gravel, and the storm-blasted toppling-noise of the mountains [RIVER] roared against the anvil of Fedje <river> [ROCK].
readings
[4] háfs: haf all
notes
[1, 4] í mǫrk háfs ‘in the borderland of the fish trap [RIVER]’: Although mǫrk in Old Norse usually means ‘forest’ or ‘wasteland’ (Fritzner: mörk), the original meaning is ‘borderland’ (cf. Goth. marka ‘border’, OE mearc ‘border, district’, OS marca ‘border, borderland’; see AEW: mǫrk). Háfs is an emendation of ‘haf’ (all mss). The omission of the ending ‑s could have been caused by the initial s- in the next word. Earlier interpretations (Finnur Jónsson 1900b, 383; Guðmundur Finnbogason 1924, 176; Davidson 1983, 590) avoid emendation by assuming tmesis háfmǫrk. The present edn emends because tmesis between l. 1 and l. 4 should rather be avoided. Another possibility is to interpret í mǫrk as ‘in the ground’ (NN §447; Reichardt 1948, 350) which could be justified by assuming a semantic development from ‘borderland’ to ‘land, ground’. That results in problems within the last line, however. Kock (NN §447) construes háf skotnaðra ‘the fish trap of the spear’ without explaining what that means. Reichardt (1948, 349-50) combines háfs with markar (l. 1) to byr markar háfs ‘the storm of the ground of the fish trap [RIVER]’, referring to the roaring current. However, this interpretation results in a three-part l. 4. — [1, 2, 4] settu skotnaðra í mǫrk háfs ‘they set shot-adders [SPEARS] in the borderland of the fish trap [RIVER]’: On spear-kennings with the base-word ‘snake’, see Meissner 146. Þórr and his companion used their weapons to prop themselves up against the force of the river.
kennings
- mǫrk háfs — the borderland of the fish trap [RIVER]