ÞSkall Valfl 2II/6 — en ‘but’
Víst hefr Valþjóf hraustan
Viljalmr, sás rauð malma,
hinn, es haf skar sunnan
hélt, í tryggð of véltan.
Satts, at síð mun létta,
snarr en minn vas harri,
— deyrat mildingr mærri —
manndráp á Englandi.
Viljalmr, sás rauð malma, hinn, es skar hélt haf sunnan, hefr víst of véltan hraustan Valþjóf í tryggð. Satts, at manndráp mun síð létta á Englandi, en harri minn vas snarr; mærri mildingr deyrat.
William, who reddened weapons, the one who cut the rime-flecked sea from the south, has indeed betrayed the bold Waltheof under safe conduct. It is true that killings will be slow to cease in England, but my lord was brave; a more splendid munificent prince will not die.
readings
[6] en minn vas harri (‘enn minn var harri’): ‘elþrimo’ F
notes
[6] en harri minn vas snarr ‘but my lord was brave’: So Skj B, Skald. ÍF 28 emends to an harri minn vas snarr and construes deyrat mærri mildingr an snarr harri minn vas translated as ekki deyr ágætari konungur en hinn vaski dróttinn minn var ‘a more splendid king will not die than my brave lord was’ (ll. 6-7). Aside from an unnecessary normalisation (en ‘but’ replaced by an ‘than’), this reading violates the w. o. in an independent cl. (the finite verb deyrat ‘will not die’ (l. 7) then occurs in syntactic position 3).