Gripla - 20.12.2018, Page 147

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eben wertvoller als die von Egilsson aus dem arabischen und ara-
maeischen.25
[the ἅπαξ λεγόμενον [hápax legómenon] ‘aldrnari’ is of course
the agent noun related to the old English action noun aldornaru,
feorhnaru [sic], and the fire is here ‘the supporter of life’ regardless
of the function it has momentarily according to the description.
the derivation of the word from old English nearvian [sic] ‘artare
[compress]’ was not exactly more valuable than the one proposed by
Egilsson from arabic and aramaic.]
With this argument, Müllenhoff seems to have given Bugge’s sugges-
tion a fatal blow. Moreover, despite the erroneous old English forms,
Müllenhoff’s contribution is noteworthy because of the derivational rela-
tions he posited between the old Icelandic and old English words, an
issue we will return to in section 3.
2.3. aldrnari as a reference to askr Yggdrasils
Whereas Bugge’s account never got any following and can be ignored, the
second major view on the meaning of aldrnari other than the fire hypoth-
esis holds that the word refers to askr Yggdrasils, the ‘world tree’ in norse
cosmology and a symbol of the world’s vitality. this interpretation was al-
ready proposed in the so-called Copenhagen edition of the Edda in 1828:
Geisar eimr
Vid aldvrnára
Leicr hár hiti
Vid himin siálfan.26
In the critical apparatus, the forms eimi and aldvrnara are given as alter-
native forms for eimr and aldvrnára, respectively. the Latin translation
provided in this edition, facing the old Icelandic text, reads:
25 Müllenhoff, Ibid. Müllenhoff’s claim that aldrnari is a hapax must be qualified in view of
the fact that it is attested in two different case forms in the manuscripts, as well as occurr-
ing in the þulur. See the discussion in section 1 above.
26 Edda Sæmundar hinns fróda, ed. by Guðmundur Magnússon et al., vol. 2 (1828), 51.
ALDRNARI