Eil Þdr 13III/2 — kolgu ‘of the cold wave’
Dreif fyr dróttar kneyfi
dolg-Svíþjóðar kolgu
(sótti ferð á flótta)
flesdrótt í vô (nesja),
þás funhristis fasta
(flóðrifs Danir) stóðu
(knôttu) Jólnis ættir
(útvés fyrir lúta),
Flesdrótt dreif í vô fyr kneyfi dróttar kolgu dolg-Svíþjóðar; ferð nesja sótti á flótta, þás Jólnis funhristis ættir stóðu fasta; Danir útvés flóðrifs knôttu lúta fyrir,
The skerry-host [GIANTS] rushed into disaster because of the oppressor of the host of the cold wave of the hostile Sweden [= Gandvík > GIANTS > = Þórr]; the troop of headlands [GIANTS] took to flight, when the group of the shaker of the flame of Jólnir <= Óðinn> [(lit. ‘group of the flame-shaker of Jólnir’) SWORD > WARRIOR > WARRIORS = Þórr and Þjálfi] stood firm; the Danes of the outlying sanctuary of the sea-rib [STONE > COAST > GIANTS] fell before [them],
readings
notes
[1-2] kneyfi dróttar kolgu dolg-Svíþjóðar ‘the oppressor of the host of the wave of the hostile Sweden [= Gandvík > GIANTS > = Þórr]’: Line 2 must contain a determinant for dróttar ‘of the host’ (l. 1) to form a kenning that refers to a giant of whom Þórr can be the oppressor (kneyfir). To avoid construing a kenning in which dolg ‘enemy’ (l. 2) is connected with ferð ‘troop’ (l. 3) to form a cpd (tmesis) (so Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1851, 14; Finnur Jónsson 1900b, 392), dolg could be taken as the first element of a cpd with Svíþjóðar as the second element (so NN §458; Davidson 1983, 618). Dolg-Svíþjóðar ‘of the hostile Sweden’ is then a variation on ‘enemy land’, which needs another determinant, namely, kolgu ‘of the wave’. Kolgu dolg-Svíþjóðar ‘of the cold wave of the hostile Sweden’ can be interpreted as a kenning for Gandvík, the White Sea (see Note to st. 2/6). Thus the giant-kenning ‘the host of the White Sea’ corresponds to the giant-kenning ‘the Scots of Gandvík’ in st. 2. According to Kock (NN §458) the kenning kolga dolg-Svíþjóðar refers to the river Þórr has to cross. Reichardt (1948, 368) forms the cpd dolg-kolgu (l. 2) and construes dróttar Svíþjóðar dolg-kolgu ‘the host of the land of the hostile wave’. This solution also seems acceptable, although it contains tmesis (but within the same line).
kennings
- kolgu dolg-Svíþjóðar; — of the cold wave of the hostile Sweden; [= Gandvík]
- dróttar kolgu dolg-Svíþjóðar; — of the host of the cold wave of the hostile Sweden; [GIANTS]
- kneyfi dróttar kolgu dolg-Svíþjóðar; — the oppressor of the host of the cold wave of the hostile Sweden; [= Þórr]
grammar
case: gen.