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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Þul Trollkvenna 1III/3 — Gnissa ‘Gnissa’

Skal ek trollkvenna         telja heiti:
Gríðr ok Gnissa,         Grýla, Brýja,
Glumra, Geitla,         Gríma ok Bakrauf,
Guma, Gestilja,         Grottintanna.

Ek skal telja heiti trollkvenna: Gríðr ok Gnissa, Grýla, Brýja, Glumra, Geitla, Gríma ok Bakrauf, Guma, Gestilja, Grottintanna.

I shall enumerate the names of troll-women: Gríðr and Gnissa, Grýla, Brýja, Glumra, Geitla, Gríma and Bakrauf, Guma, Gestilja, Grottintanna.

readings

[3] Gnissa: grísla C

notes

[3] Gnissa: A hap. leg. Finnur Jónsson (1934-5, 306) connects the name with hnissa f. ‘ill flavour’, but cf. ModNorw. gnisse ‘rub, squeak, creak’ and ModSwed. dialectal gnissa ‘puff, shout’. According to de Vries (AEW: Gnissa), the name is most likely related to the weak verb gniða ‘rub’, hence perhaps ‘one who rubs’. The C variant, Grísla, is also a hap. leg. (for a possible meaning of that word, cf. ON gríss m. ‘pig’ and ModIcel. gríslingr ‘piglet’).

grammar

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