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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Þul Sverða 2III/3 — ǫltirr ‘ale-blade’

Skolkr, skerkir, stúfr,         Skrýmir, Laufi,
ǫltirr, langbarðr         ok ormþvari,
Leggbiti, kyrr, galmr         ok Leifnisgrand,
herberi, Hneitir         ok hræfrakki.

Skolkr, skerkir, stúfr, Skrýmir, Laufi, ǫltirr, langbarðr ok ormþvari, Leggbiti, kyrr, galmr ok Leifnisgrand, herberi, Hneitir ok hræfrakki.

Frightener, noise-maker, stump, Skrýmir, Laufi, ale-blade, Lombardic [sword] and serpent-borer, Leggbiti, quiet one, clanging one and Leifnir’s injury, war-striker, Hneitir and carrion-spear.

readings

[3] ǫltirr: ‘aultir’ , ǫltir A, ‘ockír’ B

notes

[3] ǫltirr (m.) ‘ale-blade’: Not attested elsewhere as a cpd. The first element ǫl ‘ale’ could possibly be the same as alu, a runic word used as a protective formula (see AEW: alu, ǫltirr), and the second element -tirr = tjǫr(r), a poetic term for ‘sword’ or ‘spear’. This could be an enchanted sword marked with magic runes (Falk 1914b, 64). See also ǫlrúnar ‘ale-runes, protective runes’ in Sigdr 7/1 (NK 191).

grammar

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