Þul Hvala 2III
Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hvala heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 859.
Norðhvalr ‘Greenland whale’
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norðhvalr (noun m.): [Greenland whale]
[1] Norðhvalr: Norðhvalr ok A
notes
[1] norðhvalr (m.) ‘Greenland whale’: Balaena mysticetus. Lit. ‘north-whale’. See also Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 16-17).
búr ‘sperm’
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búr (noun n.; °-s): pantry; house or room for women < búrhvalr (noun m.): °sperm whale
[1] búr‑: so A, ‘kvr‑’ R, ‘kur‑’ Tˣ, ‘kyr‑’ C, ‘byr‑’ B
notes
[1] búrhvalr (m.) ‘sperm whale’: So A. Probably the same as búrungr (see Note to st. 1/7). This is also the reading of the LaufE mss. The R, Tˣ, C variant (normalised) kýrhvalr ‘cow-whale’ may be synonymous with nauthvalr ‘cattle-whale’, which is said to be an alternative term for búrhvalr (so Halldór Hermansson 1924, 8). Hence búrhvalr and kýrhvalr seem to belong to the same species (either a sperm whale or a humpback whale).
hvalr ‘whale’
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hvalr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ir/-ar): whale < búrhvalr (noun m.): °sperm whale
notes
[1] búrhvalr (m.) ‘sperm whale’: So A. Probably the same as búrungr (see Note to st. 1/7). This is also the reading of the LaufE mss. The R, Tˣ, C variant (normalised) kýrhvalr ‘cow-whale’ may be synonymous with nauthvalr ‘cattle-whale’, which is said to be an alternative term for búrhvalr (so Halldór Hermansson 1924, 8). Hence búrhvalr and kýrhvalr seem to belong to the same species (either a sperm whale or a humpback whale).
náhvalr ‘narwhal’
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náhvalr (noun m.): [narwhal]
[2] náhvalr: ‘[…]hualr’ B, ‘náhualr’ 744ˣ
notes
[2] náhvalr (m.) ‘narwhal’: Monodon monoceros. Described in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 16).
leiptr ‘white-sided dolphin’
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3. leiptr (noun n.): white-sided dolphin
[2] leiptr: so all others, ‘leptr’ R
notes
[2] leiptr (m.) ‘white-sided dolphin’: Lit. ‘lightning’. According to Nordgaard (1920, 107), this is a kind of a dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus or Lagenorhynchus albirostris) or a pilot whale (cf. SnE 1998, II, 344). See also Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15), where it is mentioned along with the porpoise (hnísa).
skeljungr ‘humpback’
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skeljungr (noun m.): [whale, humpback]
notes
[3] skeljungr (m.) ‘humpback’: See Note to st. 1/7.
fiskreki ‘fin whale’
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fiskreki (noun m.): [fin whale]
notes
[3] fiskreki (m.) ‘fin whale’: Lit. ‘fish-chaser’. Balaenoptera physalus. See also Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15).
skútu ‘boat’
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1. skúta (noun f.; °-u; -ur): boat < skútuhvalr (noun m.)
[4] skútu‑: ‘skítu‑’ C
notes
[4] skútuhvalr (m.) ‘boat-whale’: An unidentified species of whale, which is mentioned in neither Kgs nor Halldór Hermansson (1924). Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 229) suggests that, like skútufiskur ‘boat-fish’, the word means ‘one caught from a skúta’, i.e. from a small, decked boat.
hvalr ‘whale’
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hvalr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ir/-ar): whale < skútuhvalr (noun m.)
notes
[4] skútuhvalr (m.) ‘boat-whale’: An unidentified species of whale, which is mentioned in neither Kgs nor Halldór Hermansson (1924). Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 229) suggests that, like skútufiskur ‘boat-fish’, the word means ‘one caught from a skúta’, i.e. from a small, decked boat.
slétti ‘nord’
[5] slétti‑: slétt‑ C
notes
[5] sléttibaka (f.) ‘nordcaper’: Lit. ‘smooth-back’. See Note to st. 1/8. Sléttibaka is also described in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15-16).
baka ‘caper’
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1. baka (noun f.): [caper] < sléttibaka (noun f.)
notes
[5] sléttibaka (f.) ‘nordcaper’: Lit. ‘smooth-back’. See Note to st. 1/8. Sléttibaka is also described in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15-16).
skjaldhvalr ‘killer whale’
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skjaldhvalr (noun m.): [killer whale]
[5] skjaldhvalr: ‘[…]hualr’ C, ‘skíallhualr’ B
notes
[5] skjaldhvalr (m.) ‘killer whale’: Lit. ‘shield-whale’. In Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15), this species of whale is described having ‘spots’ (ON fleckar; see geirhvalr ‘minke whale’ in st. 1/1 and Note there), or else skjaldhvalr could denote a killer whale (orca), although the usual term for that species is vǫgn(hvalr) (see l. 8 below).
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
sandlægja ‘sei whale’
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sandlægja (noun f.): [sei whale]
notes
[6] sandlægja (f.) ‘sei whale’: Lit. ‘sand-sinking one’. In Modern Icelandic, this is the term for ‘grey whale’ (Eschrichtius glaucus), but in Old Norse it is possibly another word for sandreyðr ‘sei whale’ (Balaenoptera borealis) (cf. SnE 1998, II, 382 and hrafnreyðr ‘lesser rorqual’ in l. 8 below). Sandlægja is one of the few species of whales that are not mentioned in Kgs, but it is described in Halldór Hermansson (1924, 9).
hrosshvalr ‘horse-whale’
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hrosshvalr (noun m.): [horse-whale]
notes
[7] hrosshvalr (m.) ‘horse-whale’: Cf. OE horshwæl, ModGer. Walross ‘walrus’, and hence the same as rostungr (st. 1/7 above). In Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 16), hrosshvalr is not identified as ‘walrus’, rather, it is described as a fabulous malicious whale, dangerous to men (cf. rauðkembingr ‘red-crest’, st. 1/6). Grágás also distinguishes ros hval (= hrosshvalr), which is unfit for human consumption, from rosmal (= rosmhvalr) ‘walrus’, whose flesh may be eaten except on fasting days (Grg Ia, 36; Bugge 1883, 20-1).
andhvalr ‘bottlenose’
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andhvalr (noun m.; °; -ir): [bottlenose]
notes
[7] andhvalr (m.) ‘bottlenose’: In ModIcel., andhvalr is the same as andarnefja ‘bottlenose whale’ (Hyperoodon ampullatus) (see Kgs, Holm-Olsen 1983, 15-16).
hrafnreyðr ‘lesser rorqual’
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hrafnreyðr (noun f.): [lesser rorqual]
notes
[8] hrafnreyðr (m.) ‘lesser rorqual’: Lit. ‘raven-whale’. This species is described in Halldór Hermansson (1924, 10) and may be the same as hrafnhvalr ‘sei whale’ (a type of rorqual) mentioned in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15), also called hrefna. See Note to l. 6 above.
vǫgn ‘orca’
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vǫgn (noun f.; °; vagnir): wagon
notes
[8] vǫgn (f.) ‘orca’: Orcinus orca. Rendered as vǫgnhvalr in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15) and vagnhvalr (or vognuhvalr) in Halldór Hermansson (1924, 6). See Note to l. 5 above.
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