Íslenzk tunga - 01.01.1965, Qupperneq 50

48
HALLDÓR HALLDÓRSSON
found in the texts, that the verb drepa has been used in the context
drepa stein as a stone-mason’s term in the sense ‘to chop a stone with
a hammer’, much as drepa járn means ‘to forge iron’. But our know-
ledge of the meaning of the word stallr both in Icelandic and other
Germanic languages gives no support to the theory that the word has
ever had the meaning here assumed. Vigfússon’s second explanation
is found under hjarta, where the phrase is translated “the heart beats
(see drepa A. 4) or sinlcs, rudely expressed, in Sturl. ii. 42 (in the
verse).”32 This explanation need not be commented upon, as it is
only an imperfect rendering of Egilsson’s theory.
Vigfússon’s third explanation is found under stallr, where the
phrase is translated as follows: “4. the step of a mast. . . . the phrase,
hjarta drepr stall, the heart jails . . . the metaphor is taken from the
mast rocking in the step (and not as suggested s.v. drepa A. I.
4.).”33 It is quite correct that stallr is found in the sense ‘step of a
mast’. This explanation belongs to the type that can be neither pro-
ved nor refuted. One must either believe in it or not. I should charac-
terize it as an ingenious idea. But I cannot believe in it.
Eiríkur Jónsson gives the phrase twice in his dictionary.34 Under
drepa he translates the phrase as “ens Hjerte synker heelt ned til
Sædet” (i.e., ‘one’s heart falls down quite to the buttocks’). This
must probably he looked upon as a rendering of Thorlacius’ ex-
planation. Under slallr on the other hand Jónsson says: “Hjertet
(falder saa langt ned el. banker saa heftigt at det) slaaer an imod
Mellemgulvet” (i.e., ‘the heart (falls so deep down or beats so vio-
lently that it) strikes against the diaphragm’). This latter explana-
tion is only a short summary of Egilsson’s theory.
J. Fritzner gives some instances of the phrase.35 Under stallr it is
maintained, though with a question mark, that slallr in this connec-
32 Ibid. 266.
33 Ibid. 587.
34 Erik Jonsson, Oldnordisk Ordbog (Kjöbenhavn 1863).
35 Johan Fritzner, Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog (Kristiania 1886—
96).