Note to Anon (Ragn) 8^VIII (Ragn 38)

[4] hlumtungum ‘with oar-handle tongues [OAR BLADES]’: The letter emended here to <n> and read as <a> (see ‘hlumtvaghvm’, Readings, above), is unclear; Olsen (Ragn 1906-08, 174) in fact read it as <n>, also noting, however, that it was unclear. Emending to hlumtungum (with Rafn (FSN) and Örnólfur Thorsson (Ragn 1985)) and interpreting it as dat. pl. of *hlumtunga ‘oar-handle tongue’ gives reasonable sense as a kenning for ‘oar-blades, oars’. That oars are in question here is further suggested by the occurrence of the 3rd pers. pl. pret. form reru ‘rowed’ in the corresponding part of the 2845 text. Reading hlumtungum leaves the line with one syllable short of the four that would be expected in a fornyrðislag line; a purist might wish to emend to hlummatungum ‘tongues of oar-handles’. Other suggested emendations are unconvincing and/or involve more drastic emendation: hlunnatungum ‘tongues of launching-rollers [SHIPS? OARS?]’; hlunnalungum ‘ships of launching-rollers’; or hlunna viggjum ‘horses of launching-rollers [SHIPS]’. Skj B and Skald follow the 2845 reading of this line, with Hœklings/Hæklings, as shown above. 

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Ragn 1985 = Örnólfur Thorsson 1985, 101-53.
6. Internal references
7. Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Ragnars saga loðbrókar 19 (Sigurðr ormr í auga, Lausavísa 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 663.