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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Eyv Lv 9I/2 — sól ‘sun’

Fullu skein á fjǫllum
fallsól bráa vallar
Ullar kjóls of allan
aldr Hôkonar skǫldum.
Nús alfrǫðull elfar
jǫtna dolgs of folginn
— rôð eru rammrar þjóðar
rík — í móður líki.

Fallsól vallar bráa Fullu skein á fjǫllum kjóls Ullar skǫldum of allan aldr Hôkonar. Nús alfrǫðull elfar of folginn í líki móður dolgs jǫtna; rôð rammrar þjóðar eru rík.

The setting sun of the plain of the brows of Fulla <goddess> [FOREHEAD > GOLD] shone on the mountains of the ship of Ullr <god> [SHIELD > ARMS/HANDS] of skalds throughout Hákon’s whole lifetime. Now the sun of the river [GOLD] is hidden in the body of the mother of the enemy of the giants [= Þórr > = Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)]; the resolutions of the mighty people are powerful.

readings

[2] fallsól bráa: so F, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, Bb, R, , W, U(30v), ‘fall sol bla’ , fallsólar brá FskBˣ, ‘fall solbraar’ FskAˣ, fjallsól brá U(42r)

notes

[1]: The diction of the line evokes a natural image of the sun setting over mountains (Hkr 1893-1901, IV) while also providing continuity from fjǫllum Fýrisvalla ‘mountains of Fýrisvellir’ in Lv 8/3. — [1, 2] fallsól vallar bráa Fullu ‘the setting sun of the plain of the brows of Fulla <goddess> [FOREHEAD > GOLD]’: The little-known goddess Fulla is described in Gylf (SnE 2005, 29, 47) as a maidservant of Frigg who, as an unmarried woman, wears her hair free of a headdress but with a golden band, and this motif supplies the basis for a gold-kenning pattern (on Fulla, see also Note to Þul Ásynja 1/4III). The variant Fyllar (gen. sg.) appears to be a strong-declension by-form of Fulla with nom. *Fyllr (ÍF 26; ÍF 29). The specific mention of the setting sun (cf. sólarfall ‘sunset’, Konráð Gíslason 1892, 70) may relate to the redness of some gold: cf. rautt goll ‘red gold’ (LP: rauðr); ÍF 26 gives a more naturalistic explanation.

kennings

grammar

case: nom.

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