Vígf Hák 1I/3 — Geitis ‘of Geitir’
Varðat hœgt, þás hurðir
hjǫrklofnar sák rofna
(hôtt sǫng Hǫgna) Geitis,
(hregg) til Vagns at leggja.
Þar gengum vér, þrøngvar
þunníss, í bǫð, Gunnar,
(strǫng vas) danskra drengja
(darra flaug) til knarrar.
Varðat hœgt at leggja til Vagns, þás sák hjǫrklofnar hurðir Geitis rofna; hregg Hǫgna sǫng hôtt. Þar gengum vér í bǫð til knarrar danskra drengja, þrøngvar þunníss Gunnar; flaug darra vas strǫng.
It was not easy to attack Vagn, when I saw the sword-riven doors of Geitir <sea-king> [SHIELDS] split; the storm of Hǫgni <legendary hero> [BATTLE] sang loudly. There we advanced into battle towards the vessel of the Danish warriors, forcers of the slender ice of Gunnr <valkyrie> [SWORD > WARRIORS]; the flight of spears was mighty.
readings
[3] Geitis: so 510, ‘giætte’ FskBˣ, ‘gattar’ FskAˣ
notes
[3] Geitis ‘of Geitir <sea-king>’: Geitir appears among heiti for sea-kings in Þul Sækonunga 1/7III, and in a shield-kenning garðr Geitis ‘enclosure of Geitir’ in Þjóð Haustl 20/5III. Kock (Skald; NN §385), pointing out the awkwardness of the word order assumed here and in previous eds, opts for the FskAˣ reading gáttar and reads hregg gáttar Hǫgna ‘storm of the door of Hǫgni [SHIELD > BATTLE]’. This, however, leaves hurðir ‘doors’ in l. 1 as a shield-kenning without a determinant, and Kock’s suggestion that a determinant is supplied in the following adj. hjǫrklofnar ‘sword-riven’ does not entirely convince.
kennings
- hjǫrklofnar hurðir Geitis — the sword-riven doors of Geitir <sea-king> [SHIELDS]