Anon (SnE) 18III/6 — Bil ‘Bil’
Stendr, þats stórum grandar,
sterkviðri mér Herkju
í hneggverǫld; hyggju
hefk stríð borit víða.
Þar kømr enn, ef unna
ítr vildi Bil skaldi,
at blíðr of grœr Gríðar
glaumvindr í sal þindar.
Sterkviðri Herkju, þats grandar stórum, stendr í hneggverǫld mér; hefk borit stríð hyggju víða. Þar kømr enn, ef ítr Bil vildi unna skaldi, at blíðr glaumvindr Gríðar of grœr í sal þindar.
A strong storm of Herkja <troll-woman> [THOUGHT], which hurts greatly, resides in my heart-world [BREAST]; I have carried my grief of mind far and wide. Yet it will happen, if the precious Bil <goddess> would love the skald, that a sweet pleasure-wind of Gríðr <giantess> [THOUGHT] will grow in my hall of the diaphragm [BREAST].
notes
[6] Bil vildi ‘the Bil <goddess> would’: Bil is a goddess (see Þul Kvenna II 3/6 and Note to Þul Ásynja 1/8), and as such the name can function as a base-word in kennings for ‘woman’. There is no determinant here, however, and, furthermore, the line contains skothending (-ild- : ‑ald-) rather than aðalhending. Following Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 75-6), Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) accordingly emends the verb vildi (3rd pers. sg. pret. subj.) ‘would’ to falda ‘of head-dresses’, which forces another emendation in l. 5 (unna inf. ‘love’ > ynni 3rd pers. sg. pret. subj. ‘would love’) to provide a finite verb for the clause. As Kock (NN §1209) points out, half-kennings for ‘woman’ that involve the names of goddesses are not unattested, and Bil has been treated as a half-kenning in the present edn as well (so also in SnE 1848-87). Kock (NN §§1910, 2991B) emends vildi to valdi ‘would choose to’ to achieve aðalhending. While it is certainly not inconceivable that vildi in U represents a lectio facilior, the ms. reading has been retained here.