Anon Gyð 3VII/2 — þing ‘of the assembly’
Hvarf er þeim, er þurfa,
þingnárungum, váru,
branda rjóðr í bráðar
brynflagð*a nauðsynjar.
Fekk strandloga stökkvir
stígverjanda hverjum
fráns af fjárhlut sínum
fullar hendr, meðan endiz.
Rjóðr branda er hvarf þeim brynflagð*a þingnárungum, er váru þurfa, í bráðar nauðsynjar. Stökkvir strandloga fekk hverjum fráns stígverjanda hendr fullar af fjárhlut sínum, meðan endiz.
The reddener of swords [WARRIOR] is a support for those beings of the assembly of the trolls of the mailcoat [(lit. ‘assembly-beings of the mailcoat-trolls’) AXES > BATTLE > WARRIORS] who were poor, in cases of sudden need. The flinger of shore-flame [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] gave every defender of the path of the snake [(lit. ‘snake’s path-defender’) GOLD > MAN] hands full of his wealth, while it lasted.
notes
[2] þingnárungum (dat. pl.) ‘assembly-beings [WARRIORS]’: The significance of the second element in this cpd is not clear. Nárungar is usually, as here, a bound morpheme occurring as part of a straightforward man-heiti (such as beitnrungar ‘ship-beings’ in Ník Kristdr 1/2III) or as the base-word of man-kennings (like élnrungar hlífar gims ‘storm-beings of the shelter of the gem’ in Anon (Stu) 21/6-7IV). The free-standing form occurs only in a variant reading in Skm in W, which reads kallaðir erv menn niorðungar ędr narvngar ‘men are called njorðungar or nárungar’ (SnE 1848-87, II, 497; Finnur Jónsson 1924a, 105; LP: nrungar). The suffix –ungar usually indicates descent from some mythical or heroic being, as, e.g., with the Skjǫldungar or the Vǫlsungar. SnE provides two possibilities for the progenitor of the Nárungar. The first of these is Loki’s son Narfi, whom Gylf twice refers to as ‘Nari’ (SnE 1982, 27, 49). The prose continuation of Lokasenna suggests that Nari and Narfi were distinct characters: Nari is said to have been killed and his entrails used as fetters for Loki, while his brother Narfi is turned into a wolf. Snorri’s account of the binding of Loki (SnE 1982, 49/7-9) attempts to resolve this by conflating Nari and Narfi and introducing a second son, Váli. The other possible candidate is Nár, included in a list of dwarf-names in Gylf (SnE 1982, 16). Neither of these derivations is entirely persuasive.
kennings
- brynflagð*a þing — of the assembly of the trolls of the mailcoat [BATTLE]
- þeim brynflagð*a þingnárungum, — for those beings of the assembly of the trolls of the mailcoat [WARRIORS]