Bragi Troll 1III/6 — óðs ‘of poetry’
Skald kalla mik,
skapsmið Viðurs,
Gauts gjafrǫtuð,
grepp óhneppan,
Yggs ǫlbera,
óðs skap-Móða,
hagsmið bragar.
Hvats skald nema þat?
Kalla mik skald, Viðurs skapsmið, Gauts gjafrǫtuð, óhneppan grepp, Yggs ǫlbera, skap-Móða óðs, hagsmið bragar. Hvats skald nema þat?
They call me poet, smith of Viðurr’s <= Óðinn’s> mind [(lit. ‘Viðurr’s mind-smith’) POETRY > POET], getter of Gautr’s <= Óðinn’s> gift [(lit. ‘Gautr’s gift-getter’) POETRY > POET], unscanty poet, server of Yggr’s <= Óðinn’s> ale [(lit. ‘Yggr’s ale-server’) POETRY > POET], creating-Móði <god> of poetry [POET], skilled smith of poetry [POET]. What’s a poet if not that?
notes
[6] skap-Móða óðs ‘creating-Móði <god> of poetry’: This is clearly a kenning for poetry (óðr covering the semantic range ‘mind, fury, frenzy, poetry, poem’) and thus suggestive of poetic inspiration. The element skap- probably reinforces this idea (see Note to l. 2 above), but Móði is a little unexpected as a mythological base-word, if the name denotes Þórr’s son of that name, as he is nowhere associated with poetry. However, the name’s etymological sense (cf. móðr ‘mood, anger, rage’) fits the context well. Móði is recorded as the base-word of man-kennings in skaldic verse and once (Þmáhl Máv 2/2V (Eb 4)) as the base-word of a kenning for ‘poet’, Móði bragar ‘the Móði of poetry’.
kennings
- skap-Móða óðs, — creating-Móði <god> of poetry, [POET]