Hildigǫltr, kellir, herkumbl ok velgr,
gríma, œgir, glævir, stefnir.
Hildigǫltr, kellir, herkumbl ok velgr, gríma, œgir, glævir, stefnir.
Hildigǫltr (‘Battle-boar’), head covering, war-token and velgr, mask, terrifier, gleamer, stefnir.
[4] stefnir (m.): Of uncertain meaning and not attested elsewhere in skaldic poetry as a heiti for helmet, although it is used in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: stefnir). The heiti may have been derived from stafn m. ‘stem, prow’ and, according to Falk (1914b, 162), could denote stem-shaped Frankish helmets (cf. Sigv Nesv 5/6I und hjalm inn valska ‘under the Frankish helmet’, Sigv Nesv 15/3, 4I feltk peitneskum hjalmi ‘I put on a Poitou-made helmet’, and Note to Arn Hryn 9/8II). It could also be derived from stafn in the sense ‘gable’ or ‘hood’ (see Heggstad et al. 2008: stafn 2-3). Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 402) suggests ‘a pointed helmet’. Alternatively, the word could be related to stofn m. ‘stump, footing’ (so AEW: stefnir 2).