Þul Sverða 4III/3 — verulfr ‘man-wolf’
Vægir, veigarr, vallangr ok brandr,
verulfr, valnir, vindbjartr ok kvǫl,
askr, Angrvaðill, eggjumskarpi,
svipuðr ok svipaljótr, salgarðr, hnefi.
Vægir, veigarr, vallangr ok brandr, verulfr, valnir, vindbjartr ok kvǫl, askr, Angrvaðill, eggjumskarpi, svipuðr ok svipaljótr, salgarðr, hnefi.
Wavy one, threaded one, corpse-long one and blade, man-wolf, chosen one, wind-bright one and torment, ash, Angrvaðill, edge-sharp one, swooper and ugly-swooping one, hall-fence, fist.
readings
[3] verulfr: ‘ver.vlfr’ Tˣ, ‘verr vifr’ A, ‘ver vigr’ B
notes
[3] verulfr (m.) ‘man-wolf’: This heiti, which is not found elsewhere, can be interpreted either as a cpd whose elements are verr m. ‘man’ and úlfr m. ‘wolf’ (adopted in the present edn) or as a cpd whose first element is derived from the weak verb verja ‘defend’ (cf. SnE 1998, II, 426). The second alternative is unlikely, because a form of verja is otherwise not attested as the first element in compounds. If the cpd is interpreted as ‘man-wolf’, this can be explained in two ways (cf. Falk 1914b, 63). (a) As in Modern English (werewolf) and Modern German (Werwolf), the word could denote a person who periodically transforms himself into a wolf. The word verúlfr m. ‘werewolf’ is never used in Old Norse, however, where the adj. hamramr ‘able to change one’s shape’ and other derivatives of hamr m. ‘skin’ express the same concept (although vargúlfr occurs once as a coinage of a translator; see CVC: vargúlfr ‘were-wolf’). (b) ‘Man-wolf’ or ‘wolf of the man’, i.e. ‘an animal that harms a man’, is a kenning for ‘sword’. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B, followed by Skald) opts for the Tˣ variant ‘ver.vlfr’, normalised as verr, ulfr in which verr m. ‘defender’ (a hap. leg.) is related to ON verja ‘defend’ and ulfr is ‘wolf’. Úlfr is not attested as a heiti for ‘sword’, however, and it is difficult to see how verr in the sense ‘defender’ can be derived from verja.