SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

The Languages of Alvissmcil 307
draumniorun, 'dream-goddess', the dwarves' word for
'night' (30).
The compounds quoted above which can be described
as kennings are both simple and transparent.
Thus in Alv£ssmcil a clear distinction can be seen between
the language of men on the one hand and that of the
gods and supernatural powers on the other. The difference
is principally stylistic: prosaic everyday language versus
the language of poetry.
Is it then possible to differentiate this non-human poetic
language in Alvissmcil? The task is a difficult one,
because, as we have already observed, the distribution of
the verbal material between the different worlds and
beings is not systematic. However, this need not
decisively hinder an investigation. The arrangement of the
poem is sufficiently consistent for us to form a relatively
complete picture of the languages of those beings who
appear most often.
The language of the JEsir is characterized to a significant
extent by solemn, poetic words, archaic, already oldfashioned
at the time of the poem's composition - words
like fold, funi and barr, or common poetic words with a
foreign sound like sunna and bi6rr.
The words of the giants seem to me also to exhibit
common characteristics, both in content and style. One
subscribes willingly to Finnur Jonssori's description of the
words of the giants: "de er prsegede af noget groft, af en
materiel opfattelse og udtaler en rergrelse over det skenne
og gode i naturen." The sun is eygl6, 'the ever-glowing'
(r6), calm is felt to be ofhl», 'the sultry' (22), fire is
frekr, i.e. 'the greedy one' (26), the forest is eldi, 'firewood'
(28), seed, corn is ceti, 'food' (32). Another word, which
is indubitably translated wrong in all the commentaries
on the Edda that I have consulted, points in the same
direction. The word is igrcen (ro), the giants' name for
.earth'. Gering translated it as 'die herrlich griinende',
Neckel 'die immergrune', Lexicon poeticum 'den stserkt