[1] Keilu ‘Keila’s’: An otherwise unknown giantess. The common noun keila appears in a þula as a kind of fish, cusk or tusk (Brosmius brosme), much used for stockfish in Scandinavia (Þul Fiska 4/4) and also in a list of heiti for a hen in ms. B (Þul Hana 1/7). The underlying meaning seems to be ‘narrow crevice in a ravine, waterway’ (AEW: keila), a sense probably transferred to the female sexual organs.
References
- Bibliography
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- Internal references
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hana heiti 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 947.
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Fiska heiti 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 856.