ÞjóðA Magnfl 8II/5 — man ‘maiden’
Lǫgðu (grœðis glóða)
gramr ok jarl fyr skǫmmu
(þar kom bitr á bǫrva
brandleikr) saman randir,
svát manþinga munðut
merkjendr Heðins serkjar
— herr náði gný gørva
geirs — orrostu meiri.
Gramr ok jarl lǫgðu saman randir fyr skǫmmu; bitr brandleikr kom þar á bǫrva glóða grœðis, svát Heðins manþinga serkjar merkjendr munðut meiri orrostu; herr náði gørva gný geirs.
The king and the jarl clashed shields a short time ago; biting sword-sport [BATTLE] came there upon the trees of the embers of the ocean [GOLD > MEN], so that stainers of the shirt of the assembly of Heðinn’s <legendary hero’s> maiden [(lit. ‘of Heðinn’s maiden-assembly’) = Hildr > BATTLE > ARMOUR > WARRIORS] did not remember a greater battle; the army got to carry out tumult of the spear [BATTLE].
readings
[5] man‑: mann‑ H
notes
[5, 6] Heðins manþinga serkjar merkjendr ‘stainers of the shirt of the assembly of Heðinn <legendary hero’s> maiden [(lit. ‘of Heðinn’s maiden-assembly’) = Hildr > BATTLE > ARMOUR > WARRIORS]’: (a) The legendary Heðinn, hero of the Hjaðningavíg (‘battle of Heðinn’s men’, SnE 1998, I, 72), took as battle-trophy and wife the valkyrie named Hildr, whose name is also a generic term for ‘valkyrie’ and hence frequently found in battle-kennings. As a common noun hildr is also a term for ‘battle’, and hence there are several kennings for ‘battle’ meaning ‘Heðinn’s maiden’ (LP: Heðinn; Meissner 201-2). This means that þing ‘assembly’ in the present verse is not strictly required in the postulated kenning; however, the redundancy is matched and exceeded in Sturl Þverv l. 2IV þingmót snótar Heðins ‘assembly-meet of Heðinn’s lady [= Hildr <valkyrie> > BATTLE]’. Thus in Þjóðólfr’s st. Hildr’s þing is ‘battle’, and the serkr ‘shirt’ of battle is armour, and those who ‘stain’ armour (merkjendr) are warriors, who paint it with their enemies’ blood. (b) There are no attractive alternatives to this widely-accepted reading. Serkjar Heðins ‘Heðinn’s shirts’ would itself be a well-formed armour kenning (cf. Hfr ErfÓl 10/4I, but this would leave especially mannþinga(t) unaccounted for. (c) The variant reading þingat (so 39, F, E, J2ˣ) as the adv. ‘(to) there’ cannot be explained within the helmingr.
kennings
- Heðins man — of Heðinn’s <legendary hero’s> maiden [= Hildr]
- Heðins manþinga — of the assembly of Heðinn’s <legendary hero’s> maiden [BATTLE]
- Heðins manþinga serkjar — of the shirt of the assembly of Heðinn’s <legendary hero’s> maiden [ARMOUR]
- Heðins manþinga serkjar merkjendr — stainers of the shirt of the assembly of Heðinn’s <legendary hero’s> maiden [WARRIORS]