Valg Har 7II/7 — ríkula ‘the richly’
Haraldr, gǫrva lézt herjat
— hnyggr andskotum, tyggi —
— hvatt rann vargr at vitja
valfalls — Selund alla.
Gekk á Fjón, en fekkat,
fjǫlmennr konungr, hjǫlmum
— brast ríkula ristin
rít — erfiði lítit.
Haraldr, lézt gǫrva herjat alla Selund; hnyggr andskotum, tyggi; vargr rann hvatt at vitja valfalls. Konungr gekk fjǫlmennr á Fjón, en fekkat hjǫlmum lítit erfiði; ríkula ristin rít brast.
Haraldr, you thoroughly ravaged all Sjælland; you crush your enemies, lord; the wolf ran swiftly to visit the fallen carrion. The king advanced with strong numbers on Fyn and gave helmets no little hardship; the richly engraved shield split.
readings
[7] ríkula: ríkuliga FskBˣ
notes
[7-8] ríkula ristin rít ‘the richly engraved shield’: Skj B translates ristin as flængede ‘sundered’ and takes ríkula as an adv. modifying gekk ‘advanced’ (l. 5) (‘went with great strength’), which creates an unprecedented tripartite l. Kock first connected ríkula with ristin ‘engraved’ (NN §806) and later with brast ‘split, resounded’ (l. 7): ristin rít brast ríkula ‘the engraved shields resounded mightily’ (NN §2989E). However, ristin rít is f. nom. sg., not pl., and ríkula means ‘splendidly, richly’ or ‘rigorously’ (see Fritzner: ríkuliga). For the custom of engraving and adorning shields with pictures, see Falk 1914, 138-9, 141-7. See also Bragi RdrIII, Þjóð HaustlIII and Arn Rǫgndr 1/2.