Hjþ Lv 11VIII (HjǪ 32)/4 — gengi ‘following’
Ölvir hann heitir, er hræðiz aldri
eld né eggjar eðr hergengi,
borinn sem buðlungar, þeir sem beztir eru,
mætri en mildingar, minn er fóstbróðir.
Hann heitir Ölvir, er hræðiz aldri eld né eggjar eðr hergengi, borinn sem buðlungar, þeir sem eru beztir, mætri en mildingar, er fóstbróðir minn.
He is called Ǫlvir, who never fears fire or sword or battle-following, born like princes, they who are best, more worthy than generous rulers, he is my foster-brother.
readings
[4] hergengi: so papp6ˣ, hergenga 109a IIIˣ, herganga ÍBR5ˣ
notes
[4] hergengi ‘battle-following’: This cpd appears to be a hap. leg. and is glossed by Finnur Jónsson (LP: hergengi) as krigsfølge ‘war-following’ and further explained as være bange for at følge en i kamp ‘be afraid to follow someone into battle’. The cpd is presumably composed of her ‘war’ and gengi ‘support, following, troops’, so the more straightfoward meaning would seem to be that Ǫlvir is not afraid of opposing troops in battle, rather than not afraid to follow a leader into battle.