Eil Þdr 11III/2 — glamma ‘of wolves’
Né djúpakǫrn drôpu
dolgs vamms firum glamma
stríðkviðjǫndum stǫðvar
stall við rastar falli.
Ógndjarfan hlaut arfi
Eiðsfjarðar hug meira;
skalfa Þórs né Þjalfa
þróttar steinn við ótta.
Né drôpu stall djúpakǫrn dolgs stríðkviðjǫndum firum vamms stǫðvar glamma við falli rastar. Arfi Eiðsfjarðar hlaut meira ógndjarfan hug; steinn þróttar Þórs né Þjalfa skalfa við ótta.
Nor did the sea-acorns [STONES] of animosity [HEARTS] of the attack-prohibitors of the disgraceful men of the place of wolves [MOUNTAINS > GIANTS] falter when facing the torrent of the river. The heir of Eidsfjorden [= Hákon jarl?] got even more battle-daring courage; the stone of valour [HEART] of neither Þórr nor Þjálfi shook with fear.
readings
[2] glamma: so W, ‘gl[…]’ R, ‘g\l/amma’ Tˣ
notes
[2-3] stríðkviðjǫndum firum vamms stǫðvar glamma ‘of the attack-prohibitors of the disgraceful men of the place of wolves [MOUNTAINS > GIANTS]’: The whole phrase refers to Þórr and Þjálfi, but only firum vamms stǫðvar glamma ‘the disgraceful men of the place of wolves [MOUNTAINS > GIANTS]’ can be regarded as kenning. Stríðkviðjǫndum is a verbal cpd, meaning ‘attack-prohibiting’, the dat. firum is required from ‑kviðja (kviðja e-m e-t), and the object is stríð. Hence, Þórr and Þjálfi are designated as the ones who prevent the giants from launching an attack. Finnur Jónsson’s (LP: stríðkviðjandi) translation of the word as kraftig bekæmper ‘strong fighter’ is incorrect because kviðja is not attested in the meaning ‘fight’; rather, it is a legal term that means ‘prohibit’ (Marold 1990a, 126). However, it must be noted that stríð is not attested in the sense ‘battle, attack’ until later (LP: stríð). Firum ‘men’ depends syntactically on ‑kviðjǫndum ‘prohibiting ones’. Firum is the base-word of a giant-kenning whose determinant is stǫðvar glamma ‘of the place of wolves [MOUNTAINS]’. Vamms ‘of the fault’ qualifies firum but is not part of the logical structure of the kenning, therefore it is translated here as an adj. ‘disgraceful’. The whole expression cannot be taken as a kenning, since firum (dat. pl.) depends syntactically on kviðjǫndum and is not, as one would expect for a kenning, a gen.
kennings
- stǫðvar glamma — of the place of wolves [MOUNTAINS]
- firum vamms stǫðvar glamma — of the disgraceful men of the place of wolves [GIANTS]