Íslenzk tunga - 01.01.1965, Page 40

IIALLDÓR HALLDÓRSSON
Hjarta drepr stall
and some other Icelandic Metaphorical Phrases
Pertaining to the Ideart and Courage*
I
IN Old Icelandic we find some instances of the metaphorical
phrase hjarla drepr stall in the meaning ‘to lose heart’ together
with many variants with the same meaning. I shall here discuss this
phrase and its variants and try to trace its origin. In doing so it has
proved necessary to study many other Icelandic phrases, e.g. lijarta
stallrar, hjarta e-s dattar, hjarta skellr and hjartat loðir við þjó-
knappa. To be able lo explain the origin of the phrase in question
I also found it necessary lo collect material from other Germanic
languages, such as Swedish, Danish, German, and English. I con-
centrated on phrases dealing with the heart and courage or lack of
courage. I shall here only in abridged form discuss this collection to
the point necessary to give a basis for my theory of the origin of the
phrase and phrase variants in question.
I shall start by giving an account of the most important instances
of the phrase and its variants in literary texts.
1) The oldest secure instance of the phrase hjarta drepr slall is
found in Þórfinnsdrápa by Arnór Þórðarson jarlaskáld (‘the earls’
poet’), thought to have been composed in 1065. The quotation is
borrowed from the 7th strophe:
* The present article was written in 1960 and was to appear in a volume
which it was intended to pnhlish in the United States in honour of Professor
Stefán Einarsson on the occasion of his 65th hirthday. The volnme, howevcr,
ltas not yet appeared, and because of thc great delay I requested to have the
article returned to me. In spite of this the article is written in honour of Pro-
fessor Stefán Einarsson and dedicated to this great pioneer in certain branches
of Icclandic linguistics,