Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.1979, Page 194

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Jón Samsonarson
Shetland Islands. Norwegian paralells are the so-called kulokker and especially
geitelokker; similar rhymes can be found in Sweden. Dansinn var á Stapa í gcer
(There was dancing at Stapi yesterday) contains examples of nicknames in þulur.
Names of the children of Grýla are related in two popular þulur.
The Icelandic jólasveinar are sometimes said to be Grýla’s sons. They had
various names, some of which are cited in a short þ ula. It is known in three
versions, two from 1861-62, but the third is a tape recording from 1970. The
informant, who is still living, remembers from her childhood a little question-
game in connection with the þula.
A comparison of the Icelandic jólasveinaþula and the text of Timmermansleken
and related games shows that both have a common origin. Some of the names are
the same. The last part of the present article is a discussion of the names in the
Icelandic þula. It has an alliterating pair of names at the beginning: Tífill (Tífall)
og Tútur. It is pointed out that „7utenn“, found in the edition of the old Swedish
version and one of Enájarvi’s two main arguments for a Swedish origin of the
game, is most likely a reading error for Tutenn, which is in full accordance with
the Icelandic þula. Tífill (or Tifill) occurs as a man’s name (probably a nickname)
in a Norwegian document from 1324. The edition of the Faroese game-rhyme has
Fívil, but the name Tívil occurs in another Faroese rhyme, a parallel to the Ice-
landic Tátuþula. Tútur was explained in the 18th century as a pejorative term for
a stout man of little account. The names discussed next may also refer to appear-
ance, which is interesting in relation to the Faroese description of the game that
seems to imply that the participants used deforming costumes. Most of the names
in the Icelandic þula can be explained as pejorative epithets. The compound names
of the jólasveinar in the þula, are of a different nature, deriving from their activ-
ities. These are not found in the foreign game-rhyme.