Þul Skipa 7^III

Húnn, húnbora         ok hjalmunvǫlr,
húfr, hlýr, hremni         ok halsstemni,
hefill, hals, hanki         ok hǫfuðbendur,
háir, hæll, hamarr,         hjalpreip ok lík.

Húnn, húnbora ok hjalmunvǫlr, húfr, hlýr, hremni ok halsstemni, hefill, hals, hanki ok hǫfuðbendur, háir, hæll, hamarr, hjalpreip ok lík.

Masthead, masthead-hole and tiller, hull, bow, fifth plank and hawse-stem, clew-line, hawse, hank and backstays, oarports, keel’s heel, hammer, help-rope and leech.

Mss: R(44r), Tˣ(46r), C(13r), A(19v), B(9r), 744ˣ(77r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Húnn: so Tˣ, A, B, om. R, C    [2] ok: om. Tˣ, C;    hjalmun‑: hjalm‑ B    [3] hlýr: ‘hl[…]rr’ B, ‘hlýrr’ 744ˣ;    hremni: hrefni all others    [4] ok: om. Tˣ;    halsstemni: ‘h[…]lsstefni’ C, halsstefni A, halstefni B    [5] hanki: hnakki C    [6] ok: om. Tˣ;    hǫfuðbendur: ‘ho᷎fut b[…]nndur’ B, ‘ho᷎fut benndur’ 744ˣ    [8] ‑reip: reik Tˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 673, Skj BI, 668, Skald I, 333; SnE 1848-87, I, 584, II, 482, 565, 625, SnE 1931, 209, SnE 1998, I, 129.                

Notes: [All]: See Note to st. 5 [All]. — [1] húnn, húnbora (m., f.) ‘masthead, masthead-hole’: According to Jesch (2001a, 160), húnn was ‘the often quadrilateral strengthening of the area at the top of the mast through which the halyards passed and on which the shrouds could rest’. Húnbora ‘masthead-hole’ was the hole in the húnn through which the halyards passed (Falk 1912, 59). — [2] hjalmunvǫlr (m.) ‘tiller’: Or hjǫlmun- (so Skj B and Skald; cf. also the B variant ‘hjalm-’). This is the term for the bar inserted through the rudder to control its direction (Falk 1912, 75-6; SnE 1998, II, 311). The cpd is formed from hjálm f. ‘helm, rudder’ (= OE helma) and vǫlr m. ‘wand’. The word is not otherwise found in poetic sources. — [3] húfr, hlýr (m., m.) ‘hull, bow’: Húfr referred to the concave shape of the hull and came to be used as a pars pro toto for ‘hull’ (Falk 1912, 51, 53; Jesch 2001a, 143-4). Hlýr (lit. ‘cheek(s)’) could also be used as a pars pro toto for ‘bow’ (Falk 1912, 52; Jesch 2001a, 147). Both words are also used as pars pro toto for ‘ship’, and they are quite common in poetry (LP: húfr; 1. hlýr 4). — [3] hremni (n.) ‘fifth plank’: ModIcel. hrefna is the term for the fifth strake from the keel, and Falk (1912, 53) suggests a connection between this nautical term and ON hrefni (so mss Tˣ, C, A, B; for the R variant hremni, see ANG §237.2). See also Jesch (2001a, 141). — [4] halsstemni (n.) ‘hawse-stem’: Perhaps the name for the inner part of the stem of a ship or the grooved stem (i.e. where the planks were grooved into each other or into the stem, see Falk 1912, 35; SnE 1998, II, 301), from hals m. ‘fore-part of ship, bow’ (see l. 5) and stemni n. (or stefni) ‘stem’ (see Note to hremni ‘fifth plank’ (l. 3)). The term does not otherwise occur in poetry. — [5] hefill (m.) ‘clew-line’: Derived from the strong verb hefja ‘lift’. A line running down from the sail-yard to the lower end of the sail, with which the sail could be furled or unfurled (Falk 1912, 67-8). The word is otherwise not attested in skaldic poetry, but it does appear in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: hefill). — [5] hals (m.) ‘hawse’: Lit. ‘neck’. This word can denote various parts of a ship: (a) the ends of the curved strakes running up to the prow and stern (Falk 1912, 51-2); (b) the front partition of a ship (Falk 1912, 84-5); (c) the ropes hanging down from the lower corners of the sail or the lower corners of the sail itself (Falk 1912, 64). It is not clear which meaning is intended here, but the context would suggest (c). — [5] hanki (m.) ‘hank’: A loop, cleat or ring on the railing where the ropes from the sail were fastened (Falk 1912, 69; Jesch 2001a, 166). — [6] hǫfuðbendur (f. pl.) ‘backstays’: Ropes supporting the mast, running from the top of the mast down to the railing on each side of the mast (Falk 1912, 59-60). — [7] háir (m. pl.) ‘oarports’: Hár (sg.) designated the device that fixed the oar in its position as well as the oarsman’s place at the oar (Jesch 2001a, 155-6). See also Falk (1912, 70-1). — [7] hæll (m.) ‘keel’s heel’: This is the same as kjalarhæll (st. 10/5 below), the term for the rear end of a keel (Falk 1912, 34; cf. also stýrishæll ‘rudder’s heel’, the hindmost point of the rudder). See Halli XI Fl 1/3^II. — [8] hjalpreip (n.) ‘help-rope’: A rope whose ends were fastened to the top and bottom of the rudder to keep it in place and also to lift it (Falk 1912, 77). — [8] lík (n.) ‘leech’: A rope stitched onto the sail for reinforcement (Falk 1912, 64).

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. 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.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
7. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
8. Falk, Hjalmar. 1912. Altnordisches Seewesen. Wörter und Sachen 4. Heidelberg: Winter.
9. Finnur Jónsson. 1926-8. Ordbog til de af samfund til udg. af gml. nord. litteratur udgivne Rímur samt til de af Dr. O. Jiriczek udgivne Bósarímur. SUGNL 51. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
10. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
11. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
12. Internal references
13. Russell Poole (ed.) 2009, ‘Halli stirði, Flokkr 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 338-9.