Note 818 — Chapter XII · HEATHENDOM. (continued 2)

When Loki announced to Freya that Thórr would not recover his hammer unless she married the giant who had become possessed of it, she trembled with rage, so that the halls of the gods shook under her, and the Mén Brísínga burst from her neck: again when Thórr disguises himself in her distinctive dress, he does not forget the necklace, Hamarsheimt, xiii. xv. xix. I am inclined to think the Saxon reading erroneous, and that Brósinga is a mere error of copying. The meaning of the word is obscure: Brising in Norse denotes a fierce flame, and the name of the collar has been explained from its bright and burning colour. Grimm suggests a derivation from a verb brísan (found in Middle German under the form brísen) nodare, nodis constringere, in reference to the form of its links. But the main difficulty in my opinion is found in the plural genitive of the patronymic, and I would almost prefer the hypothesis of our having entirely lost the lay which described its origin: others we certainly have lost which had reference to it, as for instance Loki’s and Heimdallr’s contention for it. Saxo Grammaticus has a story probably about its origin (p. 13) which is totally unsatisfactory. Were the Brísingas (sons of fire?) its first possessors or makers?