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Völuspá 16

16.

Álfr ok Yngvi, / Eikinskjaldi,

Álfr and Yngvi, / Eikinskjaldi,

  • Álfr =alfr m (genitive alfar, plural alfir) elf
  • Yngvi Yngvi m (genitive Yngva) A god that may be the same as Freyr
  • Eikinskjaldi eikinn ‎(“oaken”) +‎ skjǫldr ‎(“shield”), thus meaning “One with Oaken Shield” Völuspá 13

Fjalarr ok Frosti, / Finnr ok Ginnarr;

Fjalarr and Frosti, / Finnr and Ginnarr;

  • Fjalarr Possibly related to Old Norse fjǫl ‎(“plank, deal, board”), therefore meaning “The Paneller”. Another possibility is the derivation from Old Norse fela ‎(“to hide, conceal”), thus meaning “The Spy” / Paneller. ‘block on which timber is split into panels,’ MnN Cp. fjǫI, ‘plank, board, panel,’ / Karl Millenhof suggests the meaning ‘spy,’ and derives it from fela, ‘to conceal,’ which he assumes had in addition the meaning of MnN fjela, ‘to spy.’ This lacks support.
  • Frosti noun sg dat frost frost; f var veðrs, it was frosty weather; in pl, frost mikil ok kuldar, much frost and cold; frost ok snjóar, frost and snow /frost ‎(“frost”), thus meaning “Cold One”.
  • Finnr finnr (“a Finn, a Sami”), originally a medieval byname. / Lapp, i.e. magician. Cp. finnr, originally (1) ‘finder, collector, i.e. a nomad who lived on what he found or killed,’ then (2) ‘a people at the cultural stage of the collector, the Lapps. Lapps were regardedas magicians by the Scandinavians.
  • Ginnarr ‎ginna ‎(“to dupe, deceive”), thus meaning “The Deceiver”

þat mun æ uppi, / meðan öld lifir,

known shall be / while people lives,

  • þat 3sg. it
  • mun 2sg. imper muna
  • æ adv. ever, at any time
  • uppi adv uppi up;
  • meðan conj meanwhile, as long as, while, whilst
  • öld ǫld f (genitive aldar, plural aldir) (poetic) men, people
  • lifir verb 3rd sg pres ind act lifa to be left (er þriðjungr lifði nætr); meðan öld lifir, while the world stands;

langniðja tal / Lofars hafat.

long-fathers reckoning, / the Lofars had.

  • langniðja gen. sg. langr adj. long, niðji m (genitive singular niðja, nominative plural niðjar) (poetic) a descendant
  • tal noun sg acc tal talk, parley, conversation; vera (sitja) á tali við e-n, to be (sit) talking with (ek hefi verit á tali við Hrafn ok Sturlu); eiga t við e-n, to have a talk with ; taka t sitt, taka t með sér, to begin to talk together; skilja talit, to cease talking; hél
  • Lofars Lofarr m (genitive Lofars) lofa ‎(“to praise”), thus probably meaning “Praiseworthy One”. Völuspá 14
  • hafat race