[6] *rataz ‘are abroad’: Ms. W has ‘hrataz’. Hrata means ‘tumble down, fall’, rata ‘travel, roam’ (also ‘collapse’). Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 362-3) first proposed reading rataz, which gives a somewhat better sense with lygðir ‘lies’ and is to be preferred metrically.
References
- Bibliography
- Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
- Internal references
- R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2022, ‘Njáls saga 18 (Skarpheðinn Njálsson, Lausavísur 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1243.