Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Þul Skipa 1III/4 — askr ‘ash’

Nú mun ek skýra         of skipa heiti:
ǫrk, árakló,         askr, sessrúmnir,
skeið, skúta, skip         ok Skíðblaðnir,
nór, Naglfari,         nǫkkvi, snekkja.

Nú mun ek skýra of heiti skipa: ǫrk, árakló, askr, sessrúmnir, skeið, skúta, skip ok Skíðblaðnir, nór, Naglfari, nǫkkvi, snekkja.

Now I shall explain the names of ships: ark, oar-claw, ash, roomy-seater, warship, vessel, ship and Skíðblaðnir, nór, Naglfari, rowing boat, warship.

notes

[4] askr (m.) ‘ash’: I.e. a small ship made of ash-wood (cf. LP: askr B.2 and ESkál Vell 4/2I). There is evidence that the word denoted ‘Viking ship’ in the older Germanic languages (Falk 1912, 87; Jesch 2001a, 135-6). Cf. Ascomannos ‘Ashmen’ used synonymously with Wichingos ‘Vikings’ by Adam of Bremen (Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum; Schmeidler 1917, Book II, ch. 29), OE æsc ‘light vessel’ and æscman ‘sailor, pirate’. Askr is used several times for Hjálmarr’s and Oddr’s ship in Ǫrvar-Odds saga (e.g. ch. 13, FSN II, 206) and also as the first element in the nickname askmaðr ‘ship-man’ (Finnur Jónsson 1907, 284).

grammar

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Word in text

This view shows information about an instance of a word in a text.