Eil Þdr 17III/4 — kunn ‘of the family line’
Þrøngvir gein við þungum
þangs rauðbita tangar
kveldrunninna kvinna
kunnleggs alinmunni,
Þrøngvir kunnleggs kveldrunninna kvinna gein alinmunni við þungum rauðbita þangs tangar,
The oppressor of the family line of the evening-running women [TROLL-WOMEN > GIANTS > = Þórr] gaped with his forearm-mouth [HAND] at the heavy red mouthful of the seaweed of tongs [PIECE OF IRON],
readings
[4] kunn‑: ‘k[…]n‑’ U
notes
[3-4] kunnleggs kveldrunninna kvinna ‘of the family line of the evening-running women [TROLL-WOMEN > GIANTS]’: The cpd kunnleggs is not otherwise attested in Old Norse prose or poetry. It is formed from the elements kunn- (from kund-) ‘descendant’ and leggr ‘one of the extremities, hand or foot’. The meaning may be derived from a possible parallel, ættleggr (Fritzner: ættleggr) ‘genealogical lineage’. Finnur Jónsson (LP: kunnleggr) translates it as et enkelt slægtsmedlem ‘an individual member of a family’. However, ættleggr never refers to a single person (see Fritzner, ONP: ættleggr). It is therefore translated here as ‘family line’. For kveldrunninna kvinna ‘of the evening-running women [TROLL-WOMEN]’, cf. kveldriða ‘witch’ (LP, Fritzner: kveldriða). That giants are referred to as related to witches may be because both belong to groups of evil, demonic beings.
kennings
- kunnleggs kveldrunninna kvinna — of the family line of the evening-running women [GIANTS]
- Þrøngvir kunnleggs kveldrunninna kvinna — The oppressor of the family line of the evening-running women [= Þórr]