Gripla - 20.12.2011, Qupperneq 134

GRIPLA134
SUMMARY
ʻSkammar eru skips rárʼ – ʻShort are the yards of a shipʼ
Keywords: Hávamál 74, Málsháttakvæði 12, proverbs, sail, ship, Guðbrandur
Vigfússon, Hjalmar Falk.
In this paper the author tries to explain the 74th verse of Hávamál. The first part
of it seems to be puzzling and somewhat incoherent. It is especially the proverb:
»skammar eru skips rár« (short are the yards of a ship), in the third line, that
has caused much pondering, and some scholars mark it as a later addition. A
similar proverb is found in the twelfth verse of Málsháttakvæði: »Skips láta menn
skammar rár«.
In the first section of the paper, the author presents the attempts by different
scholars to explain the meaning of the proverb and points out that Guðbrandur
Vigfússon, in his dictionary from 1874, had considerable influence, as he defines
skips rá as ʻa cabinʼ or ʻa berth of a shipʼ. However, there are no arguments to
support this explanation. The author believes that the Norwegian Hjalmar Falk
came closer to a more correct explanation in a paper in Maal og Minne (1922)
where he states that square sails with a narrow top and short yard played an
important safety role when sailing the stormy waters along the coasts of Norway
and the Faroe Islands.
In the 74th verse of Hávamál the poet speaks of sailing for five days or even a
month. That implies sailing across the open ocean, even from Norway to Iceland
or Greenland. The author points out that square sails with a narrow top and short
yard were common in Iceland, and argues that such sails were seemingly a well-
known safety measure in the windy West Nordic Region, to counteract stormy
weather. The proverb simply states: be prepared for the worst. Furthermore, the
author also suggests that the word nesti could be short for leiðarnesti or veganesti,
referring to common travel gear. Thus, the 74th verse most likely states: »The
one who trusts his provisions (travel gear), goes content to sleep as night falls,
(but) one should be prepared for the worst. The autumn night is changeable. The
weather shifts a lot during five days (i.e., one week according to the old calendar),
not to mention a whole month.«
Sigurjón Páll Ísaksson
Stóragerði 4
108 Reykjavík
sigurjon.pall.isaksson@efla.is