Refr Þorst 3^III/4 — hein ‘of the whetstone’

readings

[4] hein‑: heim‑ U

notes

[3-4] til hermðarspjalla heinvandils ‘on the anger-words of the whetstone-Vandill [SWORD > BATTLE]’: The helmingr consists of two independent clauses, ‘the gold-diminisher [GENEROUS MAN] [I] heeded Þorsteinn’ and the intercalary ‘I am faithful to the bush of the roller-wolf [SHIP > SEAFARER]’, but it is difficult to decide where the prepositional phrase til hermðarspjalla heinvandils belongs. All previous eds (Skj; Skald; SnE 1998) place it in the intercalary clause, although their interpretations have differed. Skj B translates the prepositional phrase as med hensyn til at fortælle om den forbitrede kamp ‘with regard to telling about the bitter fight’. Finnur Jónsson seems to have connected heinvandils and hermðar to form a battle-kenning and translated spjalla (gen. pl. of spjǫll) as at fortælle ‘to telling …’ (lit. ‘to tell’). In LP: hermðarspjǫll, however, he takes hermðarspjǫll heinvandils as a battle-kenning: sværdets vrede ord, kamp ‘the furious words of the sword, battle’ (so also Faulkes in SnE 1998, II, 308). Placing the prepositional phrase til hermðarspjalla heinvandils in the clause beginning with emk hollr … is less attractive from the perspective of content, however, because hollr ‘faithful’ expresses more of a sense of general well-wishing and friendly inclination than being faithful (in battle). Therefore a connection with hlýddi Þórsteini ‘heeded Þorsteinn’ seems preferable. Here til can mean something like LP: til 3 om hensigt, formål, mål ‘concerning intention, aim, purpose’, and would convey that Þorsteinn advocated fighting or gave good advice for the fight. — [4] heinvandils ‘of the whetstone-Vandill [SWORD]’: All previous eds add the gen. ‑s to the second element of this cpd, which is necessary in order to supply a determinant for hermðarspjalla ‘anger-words’ (l. 3) to form a kenning for ‘battle’ in the sense ‘speech of weapons’ (Jón Þorkelsson 1890, 10), and heinvandill most likely denotes a sword or a weapon. Nobody has so far been able to find an entirely convincing explanation for this kenning. The following interpretations have been suggested, the first of which has been adopted in the present edn. (a) The first element of the cpd means ‘whetstone’ and therefore the kenning can be compared to other sword-kennings such as heinflet ‘whetstone-platform’ (Sigv Austv 6/2^I), heinland ‘whetstone-land’ (Hallv Knútdr 5/3), heinsǫðull ‘whetstone-saddle’ (Egill Hfl 8/1^V (Eg 41)) and einstígi heinar ‘narrow path of the hone’ (Anon (TGT) 29/1). They all belong to the kenning pattern ‘land (or path) of the whetstone [SWORD]’. It is difficult, however, to establish the meaning of the base-word ‘-vandil(l)’ (so all mss). Finnur Jónsson (LP: heinvandill) connects the word with the p. n. Vandill/Vendill that could be interpreted as a variation of ‘land’. This p. n. is always recorded as Vendill, but this vowel variation might have been caused by the variation of -vandill and -vendill in sword-names (see below). For this p. n., which can be Swedish or Danish, see Þjóð Yt 15/8^I and Note there. Jón Þorkelsson (1890, 10) emends ‘vandil(l)’ to vaðils ‘ford’, taken as a variation of ‘path’ and Finnur Jónsson (LP: heinvandill) also considers this option. However, that emendation goes against all mss, and it is also doubtful whether ‘ford’ could be a variation of ‘path’. (b) The second element of the cpd ‑vandill can be compared with the sword-name Dragvendill (-vandill) known from Egils saga and Ketils saga hængs; see Egill Lv 35/2^V (Eg 64) and Note there. It is also found in Þul Sverða 1/4 (see Note there). There is also another sword called Sigrvandill (-vendill) (ONP: Sigrvandill); see also the kenning rjóðvendill randa ‘the shields’ reddening rod’ (SnSt Ht 13/5). Vandill or vendill could be a diminutive of vǫndr ‘wand, stave’ (see Note to Þul Sverða 1/4) and heinvandill could be a kenning (‘whetstone-stave’). All other hein-kennings have a base-word meaning ‘land’ or ‘place’, however, and the diminutive vandill ‘stave’ is not attested. (c) Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 305) therefore also considers the possibility that ‑vandill could be the name of a giant (cf. Vandill, Þul Jǫtna II 1/6) and denote the sword as ‘destroyer’. This could be an explanation for the sword-name Dragvandill, but not for heinvandill in the sense ‘whetstone-giant’, because that would mean that the sword destroys the whetstone.

kennings

• heinvandils; — of the whetstone-Vandill; [SWORD]
• hermðarspjalla heinvandils; — the anger-words of the whetstone-Vandill; [BATTLE]

grammar