Ív Sig 16II/1 — veðrvita ‘The weather-vane’
Skók veðrvita í vôtum byr
gulli glæstan of grams skipi.
Kløkkar urðu, en konungr stýrði,
snekkju sneisar of Sigurði.
Veðrvita skók í vôtum byr, glæstan gulli, of skipi grams. Sneisar snekkju urðu kløkkar of Sigurði, en konungr stýrði.
The weather-vane shook in the wet wind, adorned with gold, above the lord’s ship. The thin planks of the warship became pliable around Sigurðr, and the king was steering.
notes
[1] veðrvita ‘the weather-vane’: The weather-vane could be fastened either to the stem or stern of a ship to indicate the direction of the wind, and could be taken down. It could be gilded and decorated with incised patterns. Some have been preserved because they were reused on churches (see Graham-Campbell and Kidd 1980, 30-1). Merchant ships seem not to have been equipped with weather-vanes (see Falk 1912, 42).