Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1971, Side 110

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Some Notes on Faroese Bird Names
ally since this would offer us a more meaningful interpretation
of the name. We have a similar use of the element fúl- in the
Old Norse name fúlmár, literally “foul gull”, which has been
adopted as a Norse loanword in English in the form “fulmar”.
The ON name refers to the fulmar’s ability to spit an ill-
smelling fluid at its attackers. It is interesting to note that
another bird of the Procellariidae family, the stormy petrel, is
often confused with the little auk, see Lockwood, Fróðskapar-
rit 16, p. 105. The name bárufjertur (or variants) refers in
Fugloy to the petrel, and in Suðuroy (and in Norwegian) to
the little auk. The name haftyrðill refers in Faroese to the
petrel, in Icelandic to the little auk. The stormy petrel, like
the fulmar, is able to defend itself by ejecting an oily sub-
stance, and the name fúlkubbi would, if originally applied to
the petrel, not only be appropriate, but also a perfect parallel
to the name fúlmár, the component -kubbi alluding to the
lesser size of the petrel.
lt is not, however, necessary to presuppose a confusion of
the two birds as condition for the name. It clearly belongs to
a sizable group of pejorative bird names which contain ele-
ments denoting dirt, excrement, and various other kinds of
filth. In Faroese we find, for instance, lortamási “muck gull”
for the common gull (Lockwood, Bird Names, p. 47), and
skarnskortur “filthy face” for the immature puffin (Lockwood
op. cit. p. 69). From the other Scandinavian languages the
following examples can be cited: lortand “mud duck” for rhe
teal, Anas crecca, in Swedish and Norwegian also found in
the form saurand, same meaning. The same first component is
found in Swedish lortskrika “muck jay” Garrulus glandarius 2.
In Danish we find skiddenmette “filthy Mette” for the wag-
tail, and skidhejre “muck heron” Ardea cinera, and in Nor-
wegian skitt-trast “muck thrush” Turdis pilaris. As second
components, these and similar pejorative elements generally
refer to the diminutive size of the birds named, as for instance
in Faroese -fjertur (and variants) “fart”, in Norwegian -fjert
and -fis in the same meaning, also in Norwegian -skit “muck”,
and in Icelandic and Faroese -tyrðil(l) “little turd”.