Mest váru mér manna hugðir
Hrókr, bróðir minn, ok Hálfr konungr,
Styrr ok Steinar, sterkir báðir,
snarráðir menn, synir Gunnlaðar.
Mest hugðir manna mér váru Hrókr, bróðir minn, ok Hálfr konungr, Styrr ok Steinar, báðir sterkir, snarráðir menn, synir Gunnlaðar.
Most friendly of [all] men towards me were Hrókr, my brother, and King Hálfr, Styrr and [the two] Steinar, both strong, resolute men, the sons of Gunnlǫð.
[1-2] mest hugðir manna mér ‘most friendly of [all] men towards me’: On the meaning of this phrase, see Fritzner: hugaðr 2. Andrews (Hálf 1909) misunderstands the idiom to mean Ich schätzte am meisten von der mannschaft … ‘I treasured most from the men …’. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends mest (l. 1) to bezt ‘best’ and translates mine bedste venner ‘my best friends’. In LP: hugaðr, Finnur quotes this example under two separate senses of the adj. ‘courageous’ and ‘friendly’.