Note 259 — XXXVII THE DUTIES, ACTIVITIES, AND AMUSEMENTS OF THE ROYAL GUARDSMEN
Laurence Marcellus Larson translation
Only one end of the beam was cloven in this way. See the Sorö edition, 394-395. The beam was apparently fastened to the mast and used to crush the sides of the enemy’s ship in much the same way as the ram was used against a castle wall. See Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, 199.