''Gambanteinn'' is an

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

term referring to a magic staff or wand. It is attested in two poems in the

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

: ''

Hárbarðsljóð ''Hárbarðsljóð'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Hárbarðr') is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda'', found in the Codex Regius and AM 748 I 4to manuscripts. It is a flyting poem with figures from Norse Paganism. ''Hárbarðsljóð'' was first wri ...

'' and ''

Skírnismál ''Skírnismál'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Skírnir', but in the Codex Regius known as ''Fǫr Skírnis'' ‘Skírnir’s journey’) is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in the 13th-century manuscripts Codex Regius and AM ...

''.

Etymology

The word is a compound of the

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the word to which it is affixed. Prefixes, like other affixes, can b ...

with the noun ''teinn''. The latter essentially means "rod, twig" and thereof, but the prefix is dubious. In Old Norse, it is used as an indicator of magnitude, or potentially magical potency or divine power. Compounds include: ''gambanreiði'' ("great wrath") and ''gambansumbl'' ("great banquet"). It could potentially be a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

from , which is attested twice in Old English, the first instance, in the phrase ''gomban gyldan'' ("to pay tribute"), at the start of

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

, the second instance, in the same phrase ''gombon gieldan'', found in the Old English Biblical poem Genesis A. Further theories exist on its poetic and root meaning.

''Hárbarðsljóð''

In ''

'' stanza 20, Hárbarðr says:

A giant hard was Hlébard, methinks:
His ''gambanteinn'' he gave me as gift,
And I stole his wits away.

''Skírnismál''

In ''

'' (Stanzas 25 to 26)

Skírnir In Norse mythology, Skírnir (Old Norse" ; "bright one") is the god Freyr's messenger and vassal. He appears in both the Poetic and Prose Eddas. Attestations ''Poetic Edda'' In the Eddic poem '' Skírnismál'', Skírnir is sent as a mes ...

speaks to

Gerd Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is a chronic upper gastrointestinal disease in which stomach content persistently and regularly flows up into the esophagus, resulting in symptoms and/or ...

Seest thou, maiden, this keen, bright sword
That I hold here in my hand?
Before its blade the old giant bends,—
Thy father is doomed to die.

I strike thee, maid, with my ''gambanteinn'',
To tame thee to work my will;
There shalt thou go where never again
The sons of men shall see thee.

Skírnir then condemns Gerd to live lonely and hideous, unloved, either married to a three-headed giant or forever unwed. It might seem that this ''gambanteinn'' also refers to the sword with which Skirnir has previously threatened Gerd. But immediately after concluding his curse, Skírnir says (stanza 32):

I go to the wood, and to the wet forest,
To win a ''gambanteinn'';
. . . . . . . . .
I won a ''gambanteinn''.

The poem then continues with further threats by Skírnir condemning Gerd to a life of misery.

References

{{Norse mythology Artifacts in Norse mythology Ceremonial weapons Fantasy weapons Fiction about magic Formal insignia History of magic Magic items Ritual weapons Talismans Wands