[8] herðr (f.) ‘shoulder’: This is the term for a part of the sword’s hilt created in analogy with (knífs) ǫxl ‘shoulder of a knife’ (i.e. where blade and haft join), since herðr is a synonym of ǫxl (Falk 1914b, 18; SnE 1998, II, 307). The word is not used in poetry as a term for ‘sword’ or for a part of the sword.