Þul á hendi 1III/5 — ulfliðr ‘wrist’
Heiti eru handar: hrammr, dýr ok raukn,
greip, mund ok spǫnn, gaupn ok hreifi,
ulfliðr ok fingr, armr, leggr ok bógr,
lámr, hnefi, lófi, loppa, krumma.
Heiti handar eru: hrammr, dýr ok raukn, greip, mund ok spǫnn, gaupn ok hreifi, ulfliðr ok fingr, armr, leggr ok bógr, lámr, hnefi, lófi, loppa, krumma.
The names of the hand are: paw, beast and draught-animal, grip, hand and span, hollow of the hand and wrist, wrist and finger, arm, forearm and shoulder, paw, fist, palm, paw, claw.
notes
[5] ulfliðr (m.) ‘wrist’: Lit. ‘wolf-joint’. In Gylf (SnE 2005, 25), the word is explained in the context of the myth about the god Týr and the wolf Fenrir. As the story goes, the Æsir decided to restrain the wolf Fenrir with the fetter Gleipnir (‘Swallower’ or ‘Gaper’), but they could not convince the wolf to let them bind him until they had placed Týr’s hand in his mouth as a pledge. When the Æsir, despite their promise, refused to let him go, he bit off the hand at the place that is now called the wolf-joint (úlfliðr). From a modern point of view, this Old Norse etymology is incorrect, however, and the first element of the word is derived from ǫln, alin ‘the arm from the elbow to the end of the middle finger’ (cf. ǫlbogi, ǫlnbogi ‘elbow’). Hence the original form of the word must have been ǫlnliðr (ModIcel. úlnliður, perhaps ǫln- > óln- > úln-; see ÍO: úlnliður).