Þul Ásynja 3III/5 — Sýr ‘Sýr’
Grét ok at Óði gulli Freyja;
heiti eru hennar Hǫrn ok Þrungva,
Sýr, Skjǫlf ok Gefn ok it sama Mardǫll;
dœtr eru hennar Hnoss ok Gersimi.
Freyja grét ok gulli at Óði; heiti hennar eru Hǫrn ok Þrungva, Sýr, Skjǫlf ok Gefn ok it sama Mardǫll; dœtr hennar eru Hnoss ok Gersimi.
Freyja also wept gold for Óðr; her names are Hǫrn and Þrungva, Sýr, Skjálf and Gefn, and likewise Mardǫll; her daughers are Hnoss and Gersimi.
readings
[5] Sýr Skjǫlf ok Gefn: ‘sýr skíalf ok […]f[…]’ B, ‘sýr skíalf ok gefn’ 744ˣ, ‘[…]’ R, sýr skjalf gefn Tˣ, ‘syr skialf ok giof’ C
notes
[5] Sýr: This name for Freyja can hardly mean anything but ‘sow’, and it refers to her function as a goddess of fertility (Turville-Petre 1964, 176; ARG II, 328). Pigs were associated with Freyja as well as with her brother Freyr (see Yngvi-Freyr in Þul Ása I l. 7, Þul Ása II l. 4), and in Hyndl 5-7, this goddess is said to be riding her boar Hildisvín to Valhǫll. For other suggested interpretations of this name (e.g. as dea Syria, the goddess of Syria), see ÍO: Sýr 3. In skaldic poetry the name occurs as a determinant in kennings for ‘gold’ and as a base-word in kennings for ‘giantess’ and ‘valkyrie’.