Þhorn Harkv 5I/2 — Kvinnum ‘Kvinnar’
‘Kunna hugða ek þik konung myndu, þann es á Kvinnum býr,
dróttin Norðmanna; djúpum ræðr hann kjólum,
roðnum rǫndum ok rauðum skjǫldum,
tjǫrgum ôrum ok tjǫldum drifnum.
‘Hugða ek þik myndu kunna konung, þann es býr á Kvinnum, dróttin Norðmanna; hann ræðr djúpum kjólum, roðnum rǫndum ok rauðum skjǫldum, tjǫrgum ôrum ok drifnum tjǫldum.
‘I thought you would recognise the king, the one who lives at Kvinnar, lord of Norwegians [NORWEGIAN KING = Haraldr]; he commands deep ships, reddened shield-rims and red shields, tarred oars and foam-spattered awnings.
readings
[2] Kvinnum: ‘kymnum’ FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ
notes
[2] á Kvinnum ‘at Kvinnar’: There is considerable doubt as to the nom. form (Kvinnar f. pl. is assumed), whether this is a p. n., and if so, where the place is. (a) It has been identified (Fsk 1847, 213) with Kvinnherad in Sunnhordland. Von See (1961b, 108) is convinced that a place in Kvinnherad is meant, and Steinnes (1949-51, 384-6) would narrow the location to Omviksdalen. (b) Kvinnum has been taken as a corruption of í Kǫrmtu, in reference to Karmøy in Rogaland, where Haraldr is known to have had an estate at Avaldsnes (Ǫgvaldsnes; so Olsen 1913; Koht 1955, 34, 37; Tveiten 1966, 18). (c) Lie (1956a) asserts rather that the word does not refer to a place (and in any case not a place on land, as this and the following stanza portray Haraldr as a sea-king) but is a scribal error of a common sort for knúum, dat. pl. of masc. knúi. The actual meaning of knúi is not known for certain (Faulkes in SnE 1998, II, 336 gives ‘knuckle’), but it is used as a heiti for ‘ship’ in Þul Skipa 4/1III.