The word remains problematic, and the editor of Sandahl Sea offers three possible interpretations (iii 92-93): 1. ‘a certain length of twine’ (cf. Modern English ran n. OED Third Edition, 2008, although that sense is first attested in 1765); 2. ‘reindeer hide' (cf. MED ran n., which uses these same Sandahl Sea citations); 3. an unidentified place name.