Fúss læzk maðr, ef missir
meyjar faðms, at deyja;
-keypt es ôst, ef eptir,
of-, látinn skal gráta.
En fullhugi fellir
flóttstyggr, sás varð dróttin,
várt torrek lízk verra,
vígtôr, konungs ôrum.
Maðr læzk fúss at deyja, ef missir faðms meyjar; ôst es ofkeypt, ef skal gráta eptir látinn. En flóttstyggr fullhugi, sás varð dróttin, fellir vígtôr; torrek várt lízk verra ôrum konungs.
A man claims he is ready to die if he misses the embrace of a maiden; love is too dearly bought if one must weep for the departed. But the flight-shunning man full of courage who has lost his lord sheds slaying-tears; our grievous loss seems worse to the servants of the king.
[7] torrek: ‘tor hrek’ 972ˣ, ‘torck’ 73aˣ, af rek 61, ‘[…]’ 325VII, ár rekk Flat, ár rek Tóm, ‘torreg’ F
[7] torrek ‘grievous loss’: The word is rare: unique in the skaldic corpus, though attested in prose (see Fritzner: torrek) and in the title of Egill Skallagrímsson’s poem Sonatorrek (Egill StV), in which he rails against the deaths of his sons. The prefix tor- implies ‘difficult’ (AEW: tor-).