Note to Sigv ErfÓl 16I
[6] húna ‘of the mast-tops’: The húnn was a strengthened area at the top of the mast through which the halyards passed and on which the shrouds could rest. As Finnur Jónsson points out (Hkr 1893-1901, IV), the kenning is unusual and rather depends on the assumption that such mast-tops were gilded. This stanza seems to be the only definite evidence that these were gilded, however; there is a possible but not certain instance in Arn Hryn 10/7-8II (see Note and Jesch 2001a, 160-2).
References
- Bibliography
- Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
- Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Internal references
- Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 10’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 195-6.