ÞGísl Búdr 4I/4 — gekk ‘attacked’
Herr bar hôtt merki;
á Hamðis serki
grimmt kom él eggja;
at gekk lið seggja.
Meiddu fjǫr flotna
— flest varð hlíf brotna —
— glumðu gráir oddar —
grjót ok skotbroddar.
Herr bar merki hôtt; grimmt él eggja kom á serki Hamðis; lið seggja gekk at. Grjót ok skotbroddar meiddu fjǫr flotna; flest hlíf varð brotna; gráir oddar glumðu.
The army carried the standard high; the terrible storm of edges [BATTLE] hit the shirts of Hamðir <legendary hero> [MAIL-SHIRTS]; the troop of men attacked. Stones and missile-points injured the lives of seamen; most shields were shattered; grey points crashed.
readings
notes
[4] gekk at (3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘attacked’: This reading is retained by Wisén (1870, 64), but Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), Kock (Skald), and Ólafur Halldórsson (2000) all adopt the m. v. form gekksk in 53 and 54, which would have a similar but more reciprocal sense. This in turn would imply that lið ‘troop, force’ in the same line applies to both sides, though this seems less likely; see Note to l. 1 on the ambiguity of herr ‘army’.
grammar
Verbs: Strong Verbs
The stem of the subjunctive pl. is i-mutation of the indicative pl..
lúka ‘shut, end’
| Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Past | Present | Past | ||
| Active voice | |||||
| sing. | 1 2 3 | lýk lýkr lýkr | lauk laukt lauk | lúka lúkir lúki | lyka lykir lyki |
| pl. | 1 2 3 | lúkum lúkið lúka | lukum lukuð luku | lúkim lúkið lúki | lykim lykið lyki |
| infinitive pres. part. past part. | lúka lúkandi lúkinn, lúkin, lúkit | ||||
| Middle voice | |||||
| sing. | 1 2 3 | lýkumk lýksk lýksk | laukumk laukzk lauksk | lúkumk lúkisk lúkisk | lykumk lykisk lykisk |
| pl. | 1 2 3 | lúkumk lúkizk lúkask | lukumk lukuzk lukusk | lúkimk lúkizk lúkisk | lykimk lykizk lykisk |
| infinitive pres. part. past part. | lúkask lúkandisk lúkizk | ||||