--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Patricia" <originalpatricia@...>
wrote:
>
> blóð-þyrstr as I understand it - blood-thirsty or blóð-drykkja
which
> is blood-drinking
> I feel sure if I am mistaken there will be Llama-Nom who may correct me
> These are originals - it took me some time to find them - hope this
helps
> Kveðja
> Patricia
> Hrafn-boð now that means AIUI - Raven Feast in that the sword is a
> Giver of sustenance to Odin's Swans (kenning for Ravens)
> The Warrior - your self being the wielder of the instrument

I'm not sure if the compounds occur anywhere in Old Norse, but in the
modern language 'blóðþyrstur' is an adjective "blood thirsty", and
'blóðdrykkja' "(the act of) drinking blood". If I met a kenning
'hrafnboð', I would assumed that it meant the bodies of warriors slain
in battle, on the analogy of kennings such as 'tafn ylgjar' "food of
the she-wolf"; 'matr arnar' "food of the eagle". A sword might be
then be described as the light or fire of this meat, the slain (and as
Patricia says, you the warrior would be the "wielder" of that fire, or
the "bearer" or "encourager" or "god" or "tree" or whatever), but I
suppose you wouldn't want such a complex kenning for the name of a
particular sword.

See Eysteinn's site for more on poetic language [
http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/kennings/kennings.html ]. The page on
sword kennings might suggest some ideas and give you an idea of how
swords were thought of.

The names at the site which Victor mentioned [
http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/armor.shtml ] which end in 'nautr'
"gift" indicate the original owner of the sword, whether it was
literally a gift or acquired from the person named by force, or morte
generally the source of the sword. I think the name 'Hvítingr' is
also a type of fish, and words for fish were used as base words in
kennings for swords, although I don't know it that's the reason for
this particular name; maybe it just refers to the brightness of the metal.

Another source of ideas is the lists (þulur) of 'heiti' for swords.
'heiti' were one-word synonyms used in Old Norse poetry. They could
be used on their own or as parts of kennings. Many of the 'heiti'
also appear as names of individual objects that they describe: swords,
etc., from legends [ http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/skindex/thul4a.html
], e.g. dragvandill, mistilteinn, laufi, tyrfingr. See the sections
here called "l(a). Sverða heiti" and "l(b). Heiti á sverði." But the
list also contains synonyms proper (hjörr, mækir, sverð), descriptive
words ('lang-hvass' "long-sharp"; 'eggjum-skarpi' "the one with sharp
edges"; 'hausa-mølvir' "crusher of skulls") that might be called
kennings but wouldn't be out of place as names for individual swords,
and some simple nouns for sword-parts: 'meðalkafli' "the grip of a
sword", 'blóðrefill' "point of a sword". Some words may have been
included due to misunderstandings of certain verses, e.g. 'folk',
normally means "people" or "army" (see Anthony Faulkes: Edda,
Skáldskaparmál 2. Glossary and Index of names).

Curiously, some of the 'heiti' characterise the sword as unreliable:
'ljúgfengr' "lying/unreliable striker" (Faulkes' definition). Were
they names of individual famous or legendary swords with this quality,
I wonder, or was there a superstition that swords with deprecatory
names were less liable to live up to these qualities?

LN