[5, 8] brandar, golli glæstir ‘the stems, encrusted with gold’: The meaning of brandr has not been fully established. Suggested is ‘curved gunwale fore and aft’ (Foote and Wilson 1970, 234; cf. Jesch 2001a, 147) but while mast-tops apparently would be gilded (Jesch 2001a, 161) it is dubious whether such decoration would have been applied to the timbers of the hull. That may favour a pars pro toto interpretation of brandr as ‘ships’ (Jesch 2001a, 147).