SnSt Ht 7III/1 — fylli ‘filling’
Hjálms fylli spekr hilmir
hvatr Vindhlés skatna;
hann kná hjǫrvi þunnum
hræs þjóðár ræsa.
Ýgr hilmir lætr eiga
ǫld dreyrfá skjǫldu;
styrs rýðr stillir hersum
sterkr járngrá serki.
Hvatr hilmir spekr skatna fylli hjálms Vindhlés; hann kná ræsa þjóðár hræs þunnum hjǫrvi. Ýgr hilmir lætr ǫld eiga dreyrfá skjǫldu; sterkr stillir rýðr járngrá serki styrs hersum.
The brave lord subdues men with Vindhlér’s <= Heimdallr’s> filling of the helmet [HEAD > SWORD]; he can make mighty rivers of carrion [BLOOD] rush with the slender sword. The terrifying lord makes people possess bloodstained shields; the strong ruler reddens the iron-grey shirts of battle [BYRNIES] of the hersar.
readings
[1] fylli: fulli Tˣ
notes
[1, 2] fylli hjálms Vindhlés ‘with Vindhlér’s <= Heimdallr’s> filling of the helmet [HEAD > SWORD]’: Vindhlér is the fourth word that must be pronounced ‘slowly’ to achieve a hexasyllabic line. The etymology of the second element of that cpd, ‑hlér, is disputed, however, and it is doubtful whether this word actually was an earlier hiatus-word (AEW: Vindhlér; Kuhn 1983, 69-70). ‘Heimdallr’s head’ is a kenning for ‘sword’, because the god Heimdallr was once struck with a man’s head. This explanation, which is provided in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 19, 108; see also SnE 2005, 26), is unclear and could represent a late attempt to make sense of this particular type of kenning (see the discussion in Meissner 126-7 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7), although we cannot exclude that it referred to a traditional, now lost myth.
kennings
- fylli hjálms — filling of the helmet; [HEAD]
- fylli hjálms Vindhlés; — with Vindhlér’s <= Heimdallr’s> filling of the helmet; [SWORD]
grammar
case: dat.