Gripla - 01.01.1979, Page 127

ÞORP 123
vísuorð úr ljóðahætti, sem bæði að efni og orðfæri minnir á 50. erindi
Hávamála.
Sú breyting á texta Hávamála sem hér er stungið upp á getur með
engu móti talist örugg fremur en fjöldi annarra breytinga á miðalda-
textum sem skýrendur síðustu alda hafa lagt til, en breytingin hefur
þann kost að ekki þarf lengur að gefa orðinu ‘þorp’ sérstaka og vafa-
sama merkingu. Auk þess verður sú samlíking við vinasnauðan mann,
sem hlýtur að felast í þeirri mynd sem dregin er upp af þöllinni í fyrri
hluta erindisins, enn hnitmiðaðri en hún er samkvæmt fyrri skýringum,
ef þöllin hefur verið sögð standa ‘þorpi án’, án samfélags við önnur tré,
án þess styrks og skjóls sem þau veita.
SUMMARY
In the article there is an examination of earlier interpretations of the word þorp
in verse 50 of Hávamál:
Hr0rnar þgll | sú er stendr þorpi á.
The word þorp is known in Old Icelandic in the sense of ‘group (of people)’
and ‘cluster of houses’, and similar usage is found in related languages, but neither
sense has been thought appropriate in this instance.
The interpretation ‘open space’ is based on the supposition that the Gothic
word þaúrp, which is recorded once as a translation of áynóz, shows a meaning
that is more original than the first two considered, but it is more likely that the
Gothic word here itself carries a secondary sense.
The interpretation ‘open space between houses’ is derived from the meaning of
the word torp in some dialects of Modern Norwegian, but this sense is probably
also secondary.
The interpretation ‘rise/eminence’ is based on a verse in Hálfs saga ok Hálfs-
rekka and Ragnars saga loðbrókar which ends with the lines
Þá varð ek þessa \ þorps ráðandi.
Here þorp has been interpreted as meaning ‘burial mound’, but it is possible that
it signifies ‘group (of warriors)’.
When all earlier explanations of þorp in its context in Hávamál have been
brought in question the emendation án for á is conjectured, thus:
Hrgrnúr þpll \ sú er stendr þorpi á(n).
In this amended text þorp comes to mean ‘cluster (of trees)’: the young fir withers
that does not stand in a clump—that stands alone without the support and shelter
of other trees.