Talk:Barnstokkr

Clasping of tree during birth
I found this while looking through an issue of Maal og Minne (1916:6). I was wondering where Davidson and the other scholars got the record of women clasping the farm tree from, I have not seen them sourcing it. Maybe I have not looked good enough. Anyway, I suppose I've found at least a fragment of it here:

"Om vård-trädet meddeler Hyltén-Cavallius (I, s. 357) den interessante oplysning, at «det har . . . varit folksed i Wärend, att barnsängsqvinnor i sin nöd omfamnat Vård-trädet, for att få lindrig barnsbörd». Slegtens liv var saaledes nøie knyttet til det hellige træ paa gaarden — paa en maate, som let bringer en til at tænke paa det omstridte Barnstokkr d. e. barnestok, barne-stamme, i kong Volsungs hal (Völs. saga, kap. 2), hvorpaa Volsunge-ættens trivsel synes at ha beroet."

That is:

"Hyltén-Cavallius ([Wärend och Wirdarne, volume] I, p. 357) tells some interesting information about the guardian tree, that 'it has . . . been a custom in Värend, that birth-giving women in their dispair embraced the guardian tree, to have relief in their childbirth.' The life of the kin was thus tightly connected to the sacred tree at the farm, in a way that makes you think about the controversial Barnstokkr, i.e. child-log, child-trunk, in king Volsung's hall. (Völs. saga, kap. 2), which the prosperity of the Völsung kin seems to have depended on."

Perhaps not the best translation, so if someone who understands the original text sees a mistake in the translation, please correct it. –Holt T•C 22:13, 18 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Very interesting. This is definitely an area we could expand upon in this article. Good work! bloodofox: (talk) 21:56, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

"Branstokkr" or "Brandstokkr"?
Brandr being an Old Norse term meaning "sword blade" among other things, I've seen renderings of the name switching the r and n order, which of course is pertinent to the story. But are they based on actual texts or extrapolations, or even typos? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.54.29.68 (talk) 15:02, 27 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Have a look at Jesse Byock's commentary on the "theories" section, I believe it addresses this. &#58;bloodofox: (talk) 17:01, 27 December 2011 (UTC)