Ólhv Hryn 11II/6 — þegna ‘the men’s’
Snǫrp bitu járn, sem ísmǫl yrpi
óðastraumr; með heitu blóði
herstefnir rauð hamri ofna
hildar serki framar merkjum.
Grimmum stóð á Gǫndlar himni
grár regnbogi Hnikars þegna;
harða lustu fylking fyrða
fáreldingar meginsára.
Snǫrp járn bitu, sem óðastraumr yrpi ísmǫl; herstefnir rauð hamri ofna serki hildar með heitu blóði framar merkjum. Grár regnbogi Hnikars stóð á grimmum himni Gǫndlar þegna; fáreldingar meginsára lustu harða fylking fyrða.
Sharp weapons bit, as if a raging stream were casting up pieces of ice; the army-leader [WARRIOR = Hákon] reddened the hammer-woven shirts of battle [BYRNIES] with hot blood ahead of the standards. The grey rainbow of Hnikarr <= Óðinn> [SPEAR] stood in the men’s fierce sky of Gǫndul <valkyrie> [SHIELD]; the destructive lightning bolts of great wounds [SPEARS] powerfully struck the company of men.
notes
[6] þegna ‘men’s’: Kock (NN §2577) interprets all of l. 6 as a kenning for ‘sword’, taking grár regnbogi ‘grey rainbow’ as the base-words and Hnikars þegna ‘of Hnikarr’s men’ i.e. ‘warriors’ as the determinant. A more elegant solution is to place þegna outside the kenning so that there is symmetry between grár regnbogi Hnikars ‘grey rainbow of Hnikarr’ i.e. ‘spear’ and grimmum himni Gǫndlar ‘fierce sky of Gǫndul’ i.e. ‘shield’ (l. 5). Þegna may then modify either kenning as a possessive gen., but it is probably best construed with grimmum himni Gǫndlar, paralleling fyrða ‘of men’ in fylking fyrða ‘company of men’ (l. 6) as the object of the battle assault.