Herðu herferðir
hryggs í stórbygðir
víða vargfæðis
virðar geðstirðir.
Fekk inn fólkrakki
felli gunnspelli
öldum ósjaldan
Aleinn lífdvalar.
Geðstirðir virðar herðu herferðir víða í stórbygðir hryggs vargfæðis. Inn fólkrakki Aleinn fekk ósjaldan öldum felli lífdvalar gunnspelli.
The mind-strong men intensified military campaigns far and wide in the large settlements of the gloomy wolf-feeder [WARRIOR = Alexander]. The battle-brave Alan gave people not seldom a slayer of life’s duration [DEATH] by battle-destruction.
[6] felli (m. acc. sg.) ‘a slayer’: Lit. ‘feller’. So Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 100-1) and Skj B. Kock (Skald; NN §§1358, 2992D) adopts the Flat variant fellu, which he interprets as an adj. fellu (n. dat. sg.) ‘terrible, unpleasant, bitter’ and connects with gunnspelli (‘by battle-destruction’; l. 6), translated as ‘battle-announcement’ (= hersaga, vígspjall). The problem with that interpretation is the absence of an ON adj. fellr ‘terrible, unpleasant, bitter’ (the Modern Scandinavian adj. that Kock adduces as an example, fæl, fel (‘terrible, unpleasant’, is derived from ON fæla) as well as a confusion between ON spell (n.) ‘destruction’ and spjall (n.) ‘destruction, announcement’.
case: acc.