Þul Hvala 2^III

Norðhvalr, búrhvalr,         náhvalr ok leiptr,
skeljungr, fiskreki         ok skútuhvalr,
sléttibaka, skjaldhvalr         ok sandlægja,
hrosshvalr, andhvalr,         hrafnreyðr ok vǫgn.

Norðhvalr, búrhvalr, náhvalr ok leiptr, skeljungr, fiskreki ok skútuhvalr, sléttibaka, skjaldhvalr ok sandlægja, hrosshvalr, andhvalr, hrafnreyðr ok vǫgn.

Greenland whale, sperm whale, narwhal and white-sided dolphin, humpback, fin whale and boat-whale, nordcaper, killer whale and sei whale, horse-whale, bottlenose, lesser rorqual and orca.

Mss: R(43v), Tˣ(45v), C(12v-13r), A(19v), B(9r), 744ˣ(75v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Norðhvalr: Norðhvalr ok A;    búr‑: so A, ‘kvr‑’ R, ‘kur‑’ Tˣ, ‘kyr‑’ C, ‘byr‑’ B    [2] náhvalr: ‘[…]hualr’ B, ‘náhualr’ 744ˣ;    ok: om. Tˣ;    leiptr: so all others, ‘leptr’ R    [4] ok: om. Tˣ;    skútu‑: ‘skítu‑’ C    [5] slétti‑: slétt‑ C;    skjaldhvalr: ‘[…]hualr’ C, ‘skíallhualr’ B    [8] ok: om. Tˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 672, Skj BI, 667-8, Skald I, 332, NN §1796, SnE 1848-87, I, 580-1, II, 481, 564, 624, SnE 1931, 207, SnE 1998, I, 127.

Notes: [1] norðhvalr (m.) ‘Greenland whale’: Balaena mysticetus. Lit. ‘north-whale’. See also Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 16-17). — [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). — [2] náhvalr (m.) ‘narwhal’: Monodon monoceros. Described in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 16). — [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). — [3] skeljungr (m.) ‘humpback’: See Note to st. 1/7. — [3] fiskreki (m.) ‘fin whale’: Lit. ‘fish-chaser’. Balaenoptera physalus. See also Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15). — [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. — [5] sléttibaka (f.) ‘nordcaper’: Lit. ‘smooth-back’. See Note to st. 1/8. Sléttibaka is also described in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15-16). — [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). — [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). — [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). — [7] andhvalr (m.) ‘bottlenose’: In ModIcel., andhvalr is the same as andarnefja ‘bottlenose whale’ (Hyperoodon ampullatus) (see Kgs, Holm-Olsen 1983, 15-16). — [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. — [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.

References

1. Bibliography
2. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Holm-Olsen, Ludvig, ed. 1983. Konungs skuggsiá. 2nd rev. edn. Norrøne tekster 1. Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt.
6. Grg = Grágás.
7. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Bugge, Sophus. 1883. ‘Oplysninger om nordens oldtid hos Jordanes’. ANF 1, 1-21.
10. Halldór Hermansson, ed. 1924. Jón Guðmundsson and his Natural History of Iceland. Islandica 15. Ithaca and New York: Cornell University Library.
11. Nordgaard, O. 1920. ‘Forklaringer til de viktigste av Kongespeilets dyrenavne’. In Brenner 1920, 107-17.
12. Internal references
13. Not published: do not cite ()
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=10928> (accessed 16 April 2024)