Þul Hvala 1^III

Hafrhvalr, geirhvalr         ok hafgufa,
hnísa, hafstrambr         ok hnýðingar,
reyðr, reyðarkalfr         ok rauðkembingr,
búrungr, rostungr         ok blæjuhvalr.

Hafrhvalr, geirhvalr ok hafgufa, hnísa, hafstrambr ok hnýðingar, reyðr, reyðarkalfr ok rauðkembingr, búrungr, rostungr ok blæjuhvalr.

Buck-whale, minke whale and sea-fumer, porpoise, hafstrambr and long-finned pilot whales, rorqual, rorqual-calf and red-crest, sperm whale, walrus and nordcaper.

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

Readings: [1] Hafrhvalr geirhvalr: ‘[…]afrhu[…] g[…]r […]lr’ B, ‘Hafrhualr geirhualr’ 744ˣ    [2] ok: om. Tˣ;    hafgufa: ‘h[…]fa’ B, hafgufa 744ˣ    [3] hnísa: ‘hnysa’ Tˣ, ‘h[…]isa’ B, ‘hnisa’ 744ˣ;    ‑strambr: ‘‑stramb[…]’ B, ‑strambr 744ˣ    [5] reyðar‑: ‘r[…]dar‑’ B, ‘reýdar‑’ 744ˣ    [6] ok: om. Tˣ, ‘[…]’ C;    ‑kembingr: ‘‑ke[…]bingr’ B, ‑kembingr 744ˣ    [7] búrungr: so Tˣ, ‘bvnvngr’ R, ‘bunnungr ok’ C, ‘brvvngr’ A, ‘bruunngr’ B    [8] ok: so C, A, B, om. R, Tˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 671-2, Skj BI, 667, Skald I, 332, SnE 1848-87, I, 580, II, 481, 564, 624, SnE 1931, 207, SnE 1998, I, 127.

Notes: [1] hafrhvalr (m.) ‘buck-whale’: A cpd from hafr m. ‘buck, billy-goat’ and hvalr m. ‘whale’, thus ‘male whale’ (so Nordgaard 1920, 110), and not attested elsewhere. Cf. ModIcel. höfrungur ‘dolphin’ (Delphinus delphis), which is not attested earlier than the C16th (ÍO: höfrungur). — [1] geirhvalr (m.) ‘minke whale’: Lit. ‘spear-whale’. This species of whale is mentioned in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15), where it is said to have spots (ON fleckar), hence, most likely a minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). Alternatively, geirhvalr may be the same as geirreyðr ‘sei whale’ (see Nordgaard 1920, 109). — [2] hafgufa (f.) ‘sea-fumer’: This is the name of a legendary sea-monster described in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 17) as a fish of incredible size that looks more like an island than a fish (see also Larson 1917, 125; Ǫrvar-Odds saga, ch. 21, FSN II, 249). The second element of the cpd (-gufa ‘fume, steam’) refers to the foul vapour emitted by the creature (see Fritzner: hafgufa and the discussion there). Nordgaard (1920, 113-15) argues that there could be true accounts of some kind of ray, a giant manta or ‘sea-devil’, behind the fantastic image of this sea-monster (cf. ModDan. sjødjevle ‘sea-devils’ and djevlerokker ‘devil-skates’). — [3] hafstrambr (m.): Lit. ‘one that swells in the sea’. Another fabulous sea-monster described in some detail in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 27). According to Nordgaard (1920, 115), some features of this creature, which is said to live in the Greenland Sea, resemble those of a hooded seal (Cystophora cristata). For the meaning of the second element (-strambr), see ModIcel. strembinn ‘heavy’, Faeroese stremba ‘stretch out’, New Norw. stremben ‘swollen’ (ÍO: strambur; stremba, strembinn).  — [4] hnýðingar (m. pl.) ‘long-finned pilot whales’: Globicephala melas (ModIcel. grindhvalur, ModNorw. grindhval; Nordgaard 1920, 107). A species of dolphin mentioned in Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 15). — [5] reyðr (m.) ‘rorqual’: A common term for species belonging to the families Balaeneoptera and Megaptera (cf. Kgs, Holm-Olsen 1983, 17, 167). In Þul Fiska 2/2, reyðr is ‘char’ (see also the discussion in Notes to Steinn Óldr 11/7^II and Sturl Hrafn 7/8^II). — [6] rauðkembingr (m.) ‘red-crest’: The heiti is formed from the adj. rauðr ‘red’ and kambr m. ‘crest, comb’. In Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 16) this is the name of a fabulous fierce sea-monster, possibly a kind of sea lion (Otaria stelleri) or sea bear (Otaria ursina) (Nordgaard 1920, 112-3). — [7] búrungr (m.) ‘sperm whale’: So Tˣ. A hap. leg. Búrungr is probably the same as búrhvalr (see Kgs, Holm-Olsen 1983, 148), which is usually identified as a sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), though Nordgaard (1920, 109-10) argues that the word may refer to a humpback whale (Megaptera novaen angliae). Neither the Rˣ variant ‘bvnvngr’ nor the other variants of this word found in C, A and B (see Readings above) can be interpreted to make any sense (cf. SnE 1998, I, 229). — [7] rostungr (m.) ‘walrus’: Odobaenus rosmarus. See also hrosshvalr lit. ‘horse-whale’ in st. 2/7 below and Kgs (Holm-Olsen 1983, 29). — [8] blæjuhvalr (m.) ‘nordcaper’: Lit. ‘covered whale’. This species is not mentioned in Kgs. Blæjuhvalr may denote a nordcaper or right whale (Balaena glacialis; cf. SnE 1998, II, 247). Alternatively, it may be the same as stökkull, a fabulous whale that hunts for seafarers (so Sigfús Blöndal 1920-4, I, 91; stökkull is also a bottlenose dolphin).

References

1. Bibliography
2. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. Sigfús Blöndal. 1920-4. Islandsk-dansk ordbog / Íslensk-dönsk orðabók. Reykjavík, Copenhagen and Kristiania (Oslo): Verslun Þórarins B. Þorlákssonar / Aschehoug.
6. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
7. Holm-Olsen, Ludvig, ed. 1983. Konungs skuggsiá. 2nd rev. edn. Norrøne tekster 1. Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt.
8. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
9. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Larson, Laurence Marcellus, ed. 1917. The King’s Mirror (Speculum Regale – Konungs Skuggsjá), translated from the Old Norwegian. New York and London: The American-Scandinavian Foundation and Oxford University Press.
12. Nordgaard, O. 1920. ‘Forklaringer til de viktigste av Kongespeilets dyrenavne’. In Brenner 1920, 107-17.
13. Internal references
14. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ǫrvar-Odds saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 804. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=35> (accessed 5 May 2024)
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Fiska 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. 853.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Steinn Herdísarson, Óláfsdrápa 11’ 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. 376-7.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrafnsmál 7’ 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. 733-4.