Þul Manna 1III/5 — rekkar ‘upright men’
Mál es at segja manna heiti:
greppar ok gumnar, gumar ok drengir,
gotnar, rekkar, garpar, seggir,
sveit, snillingar ok sælkerar.
Mál es at segja heiti manna: greppar ok gumnar, gumar ok drengir, gotnar, rekkar, garpar, seggir, sveit, snillingar ok sælkerar.
It is time to say the names for men: poets and gumnar, gumar and bold men, gotnar, upright men, champions, men, troop, valiant ones and affluent ones.
readings
[5] rekkar: ‘rekk[…]’ B, rekkar 744ˣ
notes
[5] rekkar ‘upright men’: Pl. of rekkr m. ‘straight, upright man’ (cf. the adj. rakkr ‘straight’), cognate with OE rinc, OS rink, OHG rinch ‘man, warrior’ (AEW: rekkr). The word is mostly used in poetry in the sense ‘hero’, ‘a king’s warrior’ or ‘man’ in general. Skm (SnE 1998, I, 105) provides the following definition of the word: Rekkar váru kallaðir þeir menn er fylgðu Hálfi konungi ok af þeirra nafni eru rekkar kallaðir hermenn ok er rétt at kenna svá alla menn ‘Those men who accompanied King Hálfr were called rekkar, and from their name warriors are called rekkar, and it is correct to refer to all men in this way’. For King Hálfr and his men, the Hálfsrekkar, see Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka (Hálf).