Þul Vargs 1III/2 — vitnir ‘watcher’
Vargr, ulfr, Geri, vitnir ok hninnir, grádýri,
Hati, Hróðvitnir ok heiðingi,
Freki ok viðnir, Fenrir, hlébarðr,
Goti, gildr, glammi, gylðir, ímarr,
ímr ok egðir ok skolkinni.
Vargr, ulfr, Geri, vitnir ok hninnir, grádýri, Hati, Hróðvitnir ok heiðingi, Freki ok viðnir, Fenrir, hlébarðr, Goti, gildr, glammi, gylðir, ímarr, ímr ok egðir ok skolkinni.
Wolf, he-wolf, Geri, watcher and hninnir, grey-beast, Hati, Hróðvitnir and heath-dweller, Freki and forest-dweller, Fenrir, hlébarðr, Goti, worthy one, noisy one, howler, combatant, dusky one and edged one and dark-cheeked one.
readings
[2] vitnir ok hninnir grádýri: so C, vitnir ok hninnir ok grádýri R, vitnir grádýri Tˣ, ilmr skǫll geri A, ‘[…]oll geri’ B, ‘j́l … skoll geri’ 744ˣ
notes
[2] vitnir (m.) ‘watcher’: This heiti could also be translated as ‘aware one, observant, keen-scented one’ (SnE 1998, II, 430), from a Germanic weak verb *witan ‘observe, watch’ (cf. Goth. *witan, OE bewitian ‘observe, watch; AEW: vita 4). See also ‑vitnir in Hróðvitnir (l. 3). This wolf-heiti is frequently used in skaldic verse. Along with vargr ‘wolf’ and ulfr ‘he-wolf’, vitnir is also a sword-heiti (Þul Sverða 6/7). — [2] vitnir ok hninnir, grádýri ‘watcher and hninnir, grey-beast’: So C. In both R and C the line is hypermetrical and has an extra heiti. In Tˣ (adopted in Skj B and Skald) the obscure word hninnir is omitted, while mss A and B give the entire line as ilmr, skǫll, geri (A), where ilmr must be a corrupt form of ímr ‘dusky one’ (l. 9 below). Skǫll f., lit. ‘noise’, is the name of a mythical wolf, one of the two wolves that pursue the Sun and the Moon (the other is Hati, l. 3). Because skǫll is f., the name most likely does not belong in this stanza.