Anon (SnE) 9III/3 — jǫtuns ‘of a giant’
Troll kalla mik,
tungl sjǫt-Rungnis,
auðsúg jǫtuns,
élsólar bǫl,
vilsinn vǫlu,
vǫrð náfjarðar,
hvélsvelg himins.
Hvats troll nema þat?
Kalla mik troll, tungl sjǫt-Rungnis, auðsúg jǫtuns, bǫl élsólar, vilsinn vǫlu, vǫrð náfjarðar, hvélsvelg himins. Hvats troll nema þat?
They call me troll, moon of dwelling-Rungnir [TROLL], wealth-sucker of a giant [TROLL-WOMAN], trouble of the storm-sun [TROLL], delightful company of a prophetess [TROLL-WOMAN], guardian of the corpse-fjord [GRAVE > TROLL], swallower of the wheel of the sky [(lit. ‘wheel-swallower of the sky’) SUN > TROLL]. What’s a troll if not that?
notes
[3] auðsúg jǫtuns ‘wealth-sucker of a giant [TROLL-WOMAN]’: Again the reference is obscure. There may be an allusion to the kenning-type ‘mouthful of giants [GOLD]’ (cf. Bragi Frag 6/2-3) and a suggestion that troll-women could somehow suck out gold from the mouths of giants (perhaps in the course of a sexual encounter) or rob them of it by some other means. The alimentary element in this kenning finds a counterpart in himins hvélsvelg ‘swallower of the wheel of the sky [SUN > TROLL]’ (l. 7), and in several of Bragi’s kennings in reply. Kock (NN §1095C and Skald) emends to auðsúð jǫtuns ‘wealth-plank of a giant [WOMAN > TROLL-WOMAN]’, thus providing a hending.
kennings
- auðsúg jǫtuns, — wealth-sucker of a giant, [TROLL-WOMAN]