Þul Fugla 3^III

Svǫrr, storkr, súla,         svarr, skjór, sparrhaukr,
stelkr, spǫrr, svala,         steindelfr, spiki,
skúfr, spói, sæðingr,         skarfr ok svartbakr,
skeglingr, skíði,         skjǫldungr, pái.

Svǫrr, storkr, súla, svarr, skjór, sparrhaukr, stelkr, spǫrr, svala, steindelfr, spiki, skúfr, spói, sæðingr, skarfr ok svartbakr, skeglingr, skíði, skjǫldungr, pái.

Svǫrr, stork, gannet, svarr, magpie, sparrow hawk, redshank, sparrow, swallow, wheatear, spiki, skua, curlew, gull, cormorant and great black-backed gull, young kittiwake, skíði, shelduck, peacock.

Mss: A(21r) (SnE)

Editions: Skj AI, 687, Skj BI, 677, Skald I, 341; SnE 1848-87, II, 489.

Notes: [All]: Of twenty bird-names listed in this stanza only six (svǫrr l. 1, spǫrr m. ‘sparrow’, svala f. ‘swallow’ l. 3, skúfr m. ‘skua’, sæðingr m. ‘gull’ l. 5 and skarfr m. ‘cormorant’ l. 6) occur in skaldic poetry. Cf. the similar selection and arrangement of heiti according to alliteration in Þul Skipa 5. — [1] svǫrr: This bird has not been identified. The name is possibly related to the weak verb svarra ‘roar, make noise’. Alternatively it may be interpreted as ‘roaming one’ (der umherstreifende, AEW: svarr; cf. New Norw. svarra ‘soar, wander’). The heiti occurs in kennings for ‘raven’ (LP: svǫrr). — [1] súla (f.) ‘gannet’: The northern gannet (Sula bassana or Morus bassanus), a large, mostly white seabird. — [2] svarr: Perhaps the same word as svǫrr. See Note to l. 1. — [3] stelkr (m.) ‘redshank’: A wader with orange legs (Tringa totanus). — [4] steindelfr (m.) ‘wheatear’: A hap. leg. This is most likely the same bird as ModIcel. steindepill ‘wheatear’ (Oenanthe oenanthe). — [4] spiki (m.): The name is not used in Iceland and in the present list it seems to be a loanword from mainland Scandinavian (cf. New Norw. spikkje, ModSwed. dialects spikke ‘sparrow’), perhaps connected with Engl. spink, another name for the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs). — [5-6]: Four of five bird-names in these two lines are terms for seabirds, mostly gulls, namely, skúfr m. (= ModIcel. skúmr) ‘skua’ or ‘brown gull’ (Stercorarius skua; l. 5), sæðingr m. ‘gull’ (l. 5), skarfr m. ‘cormorant’ (l. 6) and svartbakr m. ‘great black-backed gull’ (Larus marinus; l. 6). — [5] spói (m.) ‘curlew’: The Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata), a wader. — [5] sæðingr (m.) ‘gull’: This term for ‘gull’ is probably derived from sáð, sæði ‘seed’ (ÍO: sæðingur), denoting a bird that eats seed (‘seed-eater’) among other things. — [7] skíði (m.): This is a hap. leg. and an obscure word, which is possibly related to skíð f. ‘wooden stick’ or ‘ski’. — [8] skjǫldungr (m.) ‘shelduck’: A duck (Tadorna tadorna), see st. 7/3 below.

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. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
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. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
7. Internal references
8. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Skipa heiti 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 869.