The Norse phrase, “aptr i skutt,” given here in English “in the stern,” would be more correctly and literally translated by the Shetlander of the present day, “aft in the shot.” This “shot” meaning the aftermost division of a fishing-boat, into which usually fish are thrown.
In verse 26, when the expedition is over, and the god and the giant have brought their boat to land, Thor, like any every-day fisherman, proposes to his comrade to halve the work remaining of securing the boat and carrying home the fish:—
“The Hardhitter went,Thou must halve The work with me—
The Hardhitter went,Either the whale Bear to the house,
The Hardhitter went,Or make fast With me the boat.”
Thor makes quick work of his share of the labour. In verse 27
“The Hardhitter went, Gripped the stem,
The Hardhitter went,Tossed up the ship With the water in her—With the water in her—
The Hardhitter went,With the oars And the auskerry,
The Hardhitter went,He bore to the house The Jotun’s fish,
The Hardhitter went,And fared down To the earth cavern.”
The third line of this verse in the original is,
The Hardhitter went,einn med ârom ok austkotr (austskoto).
The Shetland fisher word for oar is “ar,” pronounced as the English “ere.” The “auskerry” is the boat scoop for baling out water. The word is in regular use. Note, too, that the Norse word here translated “gripped” is “greip.”
It is a curious fact that almost the only trace left in the language of the people of the long supremacy in the islands of the Catholic Church, is the remembrance of certain holidays and saint’s days, now of course no longer celebrated, although not forgotten. Besides the well-known festivals still recognised, and the legal term days of Christmas, Candlemas, Lammas, Whitsunday, Martinmas, Pasch-Sunday, and St John’s Day (December 27), there are still dated Laurence Mass (August 23), Korsmas (3d May and 14th September), Fastern Eve (before Lent), Catherinemass (22d December) Boo Helly (fifth day before Christmas), Bainer Sunday (first before Christmas), Antinmas (twenty-fourth day after Christmas), or Uphellia Day, Solomon’s Even (3d November), Sowday (17th December), Martinbullimas (St Swithin’s Day), Johnsmass (24th June).
