Vôru vǫtn ok mýrar
— verðr hitt, at þau skerða —
(svell vas áðr of alla)
ǫll torráðin (halla).
Ǫll vǫtn ok mýrar vôru torráðin; hitt verðr, at þau skerða; svell vas áðr of alla halla.
All the lakes and marshes were difficult [to traverse]; it happens that they intersect [the path]; ice was already on all the cliffs.
[2] at þau skerða ‘that they intersect [the path]’: Skerða means ‘notch, diminish, damage’ (LP: skerða). Þau refers to vǫtn ok mýrar ‘lakes and marshes’ (l. 1) and the object has to be completed according to the situation: Þórr and his companion are walking through the wilderness, hence the object must be their path. Lakes and marshes make the progress difficult; they are torráðin ‘difficult (to traverse)’.