ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2871 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2871 ************************************ 27 Sep 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if an Old Norse man living between 950 and 1100 would have given his ax a name meaning 'shield-breaker', perhaps or , and if so, what the appropriate runic form would be. Here is the information we have found. In this letter we will be using some special notation for characters not easily representible in ASCII. A slash represents an acute accent over the previous letter, {o,} represents the o-ogonek, an with a reverse comma hook underneath it, {dh} is the letter edh, which looks like a backwards '6' with a crossbar, {TH} is the letter thorn, which looks like a lowercase 'p' with a lowercase 'b' superimposed so that they share a loop, {AE} is the A-E ligature, where the two letter share the same middle vertical line, {o|} and {O|} represents an or with a slash through it, and {o"} is an o-umlaut. Old Norse literature preserves a number of names for particular weapons. The greatest number of preserved Norse weapon names are for swords, but names are also found for spears, shields, mail-coats, and staves [1]. We also found the following names of axes [10]: Hel This is the name of the giantess who was goddess of death. The word may also be used to simply mean 'death'. [2] Hjalti This axe-name is apparently from 'pommel of a sword; cross-guard of a sword'. [3] Rimmugy/gr This means 'Battle-hag'. [4] These axe names are fairly consistent with concepts about axes expressed in Old Norse poetry, where kennings for axes most frequently are expressed by using terms or names for a giantess, troll-woman, valkyrie, and the like. Some of these kennings for axes do involve shields, but almost always in connection with a word indicating a frightening supernatural female [7]: bry{dh}ja randa (hag of shields; gnawer of shields) flag{dh} hli/far (giantess of shields) galkn hau{dh}rs {TH}ri{dh}ja (monster of {TH}ri{dh}i's earth; [{TH}ri{dh}i is one of the god O/{dh}inn's names, his earth is a shield]) galkn hli/fa (monster of shields) galli meginhur{dh}ar Gauts (harm of Gautr's mighty gates [shields]) gi/fr Gunntjalds (witch/rapacious woman of the spear-tent [shield]) gi/fr hle/ma/na blakks nausta (giantess of the lee-moons of the boathouse steed [boathouse steed is a ship, lee-moons of a ship are the shields hung on its rails]) grand hli/far (harm of shields) ha/la hly/rso/lar (giantess of the cheeks of the sun [shields]) norn skjaldar (Norn of shields) randgalkn (shield-monster) Looking also at poetry for kennings involving the word , 'breaker' and shields, we find that these constructions are used to indicate a warrior, and not his axe [8]: brjo/tr megingar{dh}a Hanga (breaker of the mighty fence of Hangi [Hangi is a name of the god O/{dh}inn, and his fence is a shield, thus 'breaker of shields']) {o"}r-brjo/tr bla/ferils odda (apparently 'arrow-breaker of the blue road of points [a painted shield]) Based on this evidence, a compound such as would likely refer to a warrior and not to his weapon; instead, we recommend choosing one of the axe names we found. In particular, comes closest to your desired meaning. We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael & Gunnvor silfraharr, 27 September 2004 -- References: [1] Below is a listing of names of weapons other than axes we've found, as well as a few related items. This list was compiled by Talan Gwynek, from sources linked from [9], but a few from [6]. We have put the word 'gift' in quotes because something is called the of a person even when it is not a gift, but is booty. [6] SWORDS Bastar{dh}r (Bastard) Dragvandill (etym. unc.) Fetbrei{dh}r (Foot-broad; 'foot' as in unit of measure): Fjo,rsva/fi (acc.) (Life-taker?) Fo/tbi/tr (Foot-/Leg-biter) Gamlanautr (Gamli's 'gift') Gra/si/{dh}a (Grey-side) Grettisnautr (Grettir's 'gift') Gunnlogi (War-flame, Battle-blaze) Hneitir (exact sense uncertain, but something like Thruster, Cutter) Hvi/tingr (White-One) Jar{dh}hu/ssnautr ('Gift' of an Underground Room/Passage; it was taken from one) Jo,kulsnautr (Jo,kull's 'gift') Ka/rsnautr (Ka/rr's 'gift') Kvernbi/tr (Quern-biter) Lang (Long) Laufi (apparently from 'leaf') Leggbi/tr (Leg-biter) Na{dh}r (Adder) Skry/mir (etym. unc., but perhaps Large-One; also the name of a giant) Sko,fnungr (Shin-bone) Sni{dh}ill (Pruning-knife) Tumanautr (Tumi's 'gift') Tyrfingr (from 'a resinous fir-tree'; the sword is magical and is said to be sheathed in flame) {AE}ttartangi (apparently Family-tang, as in 'tang of a sword') {O|}lvisnautr ({O|}lvir's 'gift') SPEARS Gra/si/{dh}a (Grey-side) [reforged from the sword of the same name] Vigr (Spear; the word is poetic, the common word for 'spear' being ) SHIELDS o"rveigarnautr (o"rveig's 'gift'; is fem.) MAIL COATS Emma (?) Sigfu/ssnautr (Sigfu/ss's 'gift') STAVES Hegnu{dh}r (Chastiser) or Ho,gnu{dh}r (etym. unc.) Landko,nnu{dh}r (Land-prober, Land-explorer) [2] Snorri Sturluson, "Magnu/ss saga go/{dh}a", ch. 28. (WWW: Netu/tga/fan, 1999). http://www.snerpa.is/net/snorri/magnus-g.htm [3] Landna/maba/k (Sturlubo/k), ch. 55. (WWW: Netu/tga/fan, 1998). http://www.snerpa.is/net/snorri/landnama.htm [4] Brennu-Nja/ls saga, ch. 45. (WWW: Netu/tga/fan, 1997). http://www.snerpa.is/net/isl/njala.htm [5] Unpublished research of Gunnvor silfraharr. [6] Cleasby, R., G. Vigfusson, & W. Craigie, _An Icelandic-English Dictionary_ (Oxford: At the University Press, 1975), s.v. nautr [7] "Axe Kennings of Skaldic Poetry (Meissner: 75)" Based on Meissner's "Die Kenningar der Skalden" (1921), pp. 147-149. http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/kennings/axe.html [8] GLOSSARY: B (braut - bo"rr), from Meissner, pp. 283-350. http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/kennings/b3voca.html [9] "Fornrit" (WWW: sernpa.is) http://www.snerpa.is/net/fornrit.htm [10] One of our members has the following names of axes, in her personal research, but we have been unable to independently confirm that these are names of axes: Hlo,kk This is the name of one of the Valkyries. It may be related to 'to cry, to scream (as an eagle); to rejoice'. [5] Randgri/{dh} This is also the name of one of the Valkyries. The name is from Old Norse 'a rim, a border', used poetically to mean 'a shield', and , 'frantic eagerness'. (There is also a giantess named .) The combination hence means something like 'shield-hungry'. [5] Saxa This is the name of a giantess; it is also a feminine form of 'a sword'. [6] Ska{dh}i This is also the name of a giantess/goddess. The name is identical with the masculine noun 'scathe, harm, damage'. [6]