Eil Þdr 10III/1 — ýta ‘of the launchers’
unz með ýta sinni
— aflraun vas þat — skaunar
á seilhimin sjóla
sjalflopta kom Þjalfi.
Œddu stáli stríðan
straum Hrekkmímis ekkjur;
stophnísu fór steypir
stríðlundr með vǫl Gríðar.
unz Þjalfi kom sjalflopta á seilhimin sjóla með sinni ýta skaunar; þat vas aflraun. Ekkjur Hrekkmímis œddu straum stríðan stáli; steypir stophnísu fór stríðlundr með vǫl Gríðar.
until Þjálfi came hovering through the air on the strap-sky [SHIELD] of the ruler with the helper of the launchers of the shield [WARRIORS > LEADER = Þórr]; it was a test of strength. The widows of Hrekkmímir <giant> [GIANTESSES] infuriated the stream, harsh against the weapon; the overcomer of the cliff-porpoise [GIANTESS > = Þórr] went stubbornly with the staff of Gríðr <troll-woman>.
notes
[1, 2] sinni ýta skaunar ‘the helper of the launchers of the shield [WARRIORS > LEADER = Þórr]’: Sinnir is an agent noun from the weak verb sinna ‘accompany, support sby’ (Fritzner: sinna 2). Ýta is understood here as the gen. pl. of ýtir, an agent noun from the weak verb ýta ‘push out, launch’, qualified by a term for ‘weapon’ to form a warrior-kenning (LP: ýtir); cf. Kock (NN §§453, 1832) and, with an opposing view, Reichardt (1948, 358). Skaun ‘shield’ is only attested as a simplex here and in the þulur (Þul Skjaldar 1/2); the gender (m. or f.) and the etymology are disputed. Earlier eds (Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1851, 8, 26; Finnur Jónsson 1900b, 387 and Skj B; Reichardt 1948, 358) combine skaunar with seil ‘strap, rope’ (l. 3). This reduces the Þórr-kenning to sinni ýta ‘helper of men’ (l. 1) in which ýta is the gen. pl. of ýtar ‘people’. The problems with this interpretation are seil, which must be combined with himin for metrical reasons (see Note to l. 3), and skaunar, which as the last word in an even line cannot be integrated into the prepositional phrase in l. 3 (NN §1832). Moreover, a kenning such as seilhiminn skaunar ‘the sky of the strap of the shield [SHIELD-STRAP > SHIELD]’ is irregular, since its determinant already makes use of the referent (‘shield’). Hence skaunar can only be accommodated in the Þórr-kenning of l. 1. Þórr-kennings referring to the god as the helper or supporter of people or warriors are rare (Meissner 254), and the kenning could equally well be a leader-kenning, applied to Þórr. See the Introduction above for warrior- or ruler-kennings referring to gods and divine beings in Þdr.
kennings
- ýta skaunar; — of the launchers of the shield; [WARRIORS]
- sinni ýta skaunar; — the helper of the launchers of the shield; [LEADER = Þórr]
grammar
case: gen.
number: pl.