ESk Lv 4II/2 — svangann ‘the flank’
Oss lét abbatissa
angri firð of svangann,
dygg þótt víf in vígðu
víti fyrðar, gyrða.
Enn til áts með nunnum
(ógnarrakks) á Bakka,
(drós gladdit vin vísa)
vasat stallarinn kallaðr.
Abbatissa, firð angri, lét oss gyrða of svangann, þótt fyrðar víti dygg víf in vígðu. Enn stallarinn vasat kallaðr til áts með nunnum á Bakka; drós gladdit vin ógnarrakks vísa.
The abbess, removed from worries, made us [me] tighten the belt around the flank, although men may reproach the faithful consecrated women [for that]. And the marshal was not summoned to eat with the nuns at Bakke; the lady did not cheer the friend of the battle-brave leader.
notes
[2] of svangann (noun, m. acc. sg.) ‘around the flank’: Skj B treats this as an adj. svangan (m. acc. sg.) ‘hungry’ with the expletive particle of: lét oss of svangan ‘let us [me] [be] hungry’. That reading forces the emendation of dygg þótt ‘faithful although’(l. 3) to dugðut ‘were not able to’ because a finite verb (3rd pers. pl.) is needed with the subject in vígðu víf: in vígðu víf dugðut gyrða víti ‘the consecrated women were not able to prevent the punishment’ (ll. 3-4). For the suffixed article (svangann ‘the flank’), see ANG §472. See also stallarinn ‘the marshal’ (l. 8). For a similar image of a hungry retainer with a belt pulling close to his spine, see SnH Lv 3/7, 8: belti dregr hrygg mér at hvru ‘the belt truly pulls at my spine’.