Óðins kván rær á jarðar skipi
móðug á munað;
seglum hennar verðr síð hlaðit,
þeim er á þráreipum þruma.
Óðins kván, móðug á munað, rær á skipi jarðar; seglum hennar verðr síð hlaðit, þeim er þruma á þráreipum.
Óðinn’s wife, mighty in desire, rows on the ship of the earth; her sails will be late furled, those which hang on the ropes of longing.
[2] jarðar: jarður 214ˣ
[2] skipi jarðar ‘on the ship of the earth’: That the world can be symbolised by a ship is a homiletic commonplace; cf. Lange (1958a, 257-8) who adduces a homily about the ship of the earth in AM 673 a 4o. Here, however, the Christian symbol is given a traditional ON context, and associated with the persistent force of sexual desire, linked with the dominance of female powers. The metaphor of the world as a ship is elaborated in the second half of the st.; see Fidjestøl 1979, 56-7.