Þul Viðar 3III/1 — linnr ‘serpent’
Lind, lág ok linnr, lyng, skíð, pera,
þǫll ok þyrnir, þinurr, storð ok klungr,
mǫsurr ok grǫn tvenn ok marhrísla,
ilstri, vínviðr, jǫlstr, cípressus.
Lind, lág ok linnr, lyng, skíð, pera, þǫll ok þyrnir, þinurr, storð ok klungr, mǫsurr ok grǫn tvenn ok marhrísla, ilstri, vínviðr, jǫlstr, cípressus.
Linden, log and serpent, heather, firewood, pear-tree, fir and bramble, fir, sapling and wild briar, burl and two pines and mare-twig, willow, vine, willow, cípressus.
readings
[1] linnr: linni B
notes
[1] linnr (m.) ‘serpent’: As a heiti for ‘tree’ the word does not occur elsewhere, but it is given in this form in the LaufE mss as well (ms. B has ‘linne’). In poetry, linnr is usually a heiti for ‘serpent’ (Þul Orma 3/4; see also Þul Elds 2/2), and the sense ‘tree’ must be a figurative one, possibly caused by the resemblance of shape (?). Alternatively, the presence of a serpent-heiti in Þul Viðar could be explained by its attraction to the adjacent word in the list, lyng ‘heather’, since the latter is often used in kennings for ‘serpent’. The fact that this line has three alliterating staves (on <l>) may indicate scribal corruption at an early stage in the ms. transmission, however.