Sigv Austv 10I/7 — Ekkils ‘of Ekkill’
Snjalls létum skip skolla
skjǫldungs við ey tjǫlduð
fyr ágætu úti
ǫndvert sumar landi.
Enn í haust, es hestar
hagþorns á mó sporna
(ték ýmissar) Ekkils,
(íðir) hlýtk at ríða.
Létum skip snjalls skjǫldungs skolla tjǫlduð ǫndvert sumar úti við ey fyr ágætu landi. Enn hlýtk at ríða í haust, es hestar Ekkils sporna á mó hagþorns; ték ýmissar íðir.
We let the ship of the valiant monarch [Óláfr] skulk with its awnings up at the beginning of summer out by an island opposite some excellent country. But it is my lot to ride in autumn, when the horses of Ekkill <sea-king> [SHIPS] tread on the hawthorn’s moor [LAND]; I report various doings.
readings
[7] Ekkils: so Kˣ, ekkjum Holm2, 68, ekkjur 325V, R686ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 73aˣ, 78aˣ, 61, Holm4, 75c, Flat, Tóm, ‘ækiur’ 325VII, eikjum Bb
notes
[7] Ekkils ‘of Ekkill <sea-king>’: (a) Though unique to Kˣ, Ekkils is surely correct, being the lectio difficilior. (b) Some eds adopt the reading ekkjum of some mss, with the poetic meaning ‘women’ (lit. ‘widows’) and place it in the intercalary clause, with the result that it is horses rather than ships that tread the land in autumn (Ternström 1871; ÍF 27; Jón Skaptason 1983, 91).
kennings
- hestar Ekkils — the horses of Ekkill <sea-king> [SHIPS]