Ulfs Keptr

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann

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Ulfs Keptr in Alfraedi2 Rímtǫl glosses edited by Beckman+Kalund (1914-16).

Úlfs Keptr, the Wolf Staff containing the jaw of the wolf, is a Norse constellation mentioned in the Rímtǫl glosses, which dates back to the 11th century CE and is an Old Norse calendar of 52 weeks (364 days). The Wolf Staff is a large constellation, parallel to the Milky Way from Cas to Aur, in the constellations Andromeda to Taurus with the Wolf's Jaw in the Hyades star cluster.

Concordance, Etymology, History

Origin of Constellation

Hyades as the Wolf's Jaw, painting by Jessica Gullberg for Stellarium.

Rímtǫl glosses (from rím-tal, calendar/ computation; rendering in runic inscriptions: ᚱᛁᛘ-ᛏᛅᛚ; from Old Norse hrím, from Proto-Germanic *hrīmą. Cognate with Danish rim, Swedish rim; also related to English rime, German Reim, Dutch rijm). The Old Norse calendar divided the year into two seasons (misseri): the summer and the winter half-year with six months each.

The text is from Iceland which was settled from Norway in the 9th century. Rímtǫl I is one of the oldest components of Rímbegla (Alfræði íslenzk), a medieval Icelandic compilation focused on time-reckoning and computus. The exact dates of the three Rímtǫl are unknown, probably in the 13th century, but the calendar of a year with 52 weeks per seven days (named after Norse gods) was adopted in 930 CE and the Christian Faith in 1000 CE. For the new settlements it became clear quickly that the lunar months were not observable in summer and that observations of the solar cycle soon revealed errors. The pagan calendar that counted weeks was adjusted to the Christian one in the 12th century and in use until the 19th century.

As a consequence of the brightness of summers, constellations can only be observed in winter. The official calendar for Iceland does not record darkness in Reykjavík at 64°N from May 19 until July 23.

Identification

It is identified with the Hyades (Sigurðsson 2022, p. 241). This suggestion goes back to a suggestion by Beckman and Kalund (1914-'16) who write in Icelandic:

Ulfs keptr synes ha en annan betydelse i 1812·= Gislason, Prøver s. 477: Andromeda dottvr (läs dottir) Sephei, kona Scersei (läs Persei), sitr i miolk hring par sem ver kollvm vlfs kiopt. I hyaderna bilda några stjärnor av fjärde storleken en grupp, som kan anses i någon mån likna ett hund- eller varggap.

Ulf’s staff appears to have a different meaning in 1812·= Gislason, Prover p. 477: Andromeda, daughter of Sephei, wife of Scersei (read Persei), sits in a milky ring [The Milky Way] where the wolf’s staff is visible. In the Hyades, a few fourth-magnitude stars form a group that can be considered to resemble, to some extent, a dog’s or wolf’s mouth.

So, the Wolf Staff is a bigger constellation in the Milky Way stretching from Andromeda to Taurus while the Wolf's Mouth (or Jaw) is in the Hyades.

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

nothing known

Rökstenen, rune stone near Ödeshög in south Sweden (CC BY Bengt Olof ÅRADSSON)

Religion/ Tales/ Mythology

Wolves play a significant role in Old Norse mythology, as they are foretold to devour the sun and moon at Ragnarök (Sturluson 2017, p. 25). The Hyades lie along the moon’s path, and their V-shaped arrangement naturally invites comparison with a jaw snapping at the moon. Holmberg (2022, p. 18) further proposes that this wolf-jaw constellation may already have been recorded on the Rök Runestone in the early 9th century.

Weblinks

• Norse Constellations by Digitalis Solutions
• Valkyria.com Norse Calendar

References

• References (general)