Ferk í vánda verju;
verr nauð of mér snauðum;
kǫsungr fær víst í vási
vǫmm; en þat vas skǫmmu.
Endr vas hitt, at hrunði
hringkofl of mik inga;
gǫgl bôru sik sára
svǫng; en þat vas lǫngu.
Ferk í vánda verju; verr nauð of snauðum mér; kǫsungr fær víst vǫmm í vási; en þat vas skǫmmu. Hitt vas endr, at hringkofl inga hrunði of mik; gǫgl sára bôru sik svǫng; en þat vas lǫngu.
I dress in a coarse cloak; it defends miserable me against distress; the shirt certainly suffers damage in the toil; and that was recently. It was earlier, that the ring-cowl of the king fell around me; goslings of wounds [RAVENS/EAGLES] moved hungrily; but that was long ago.
[6] hringkofl inga ‘the ring-cowl of the king’: Inga is taken here as a noun meaning ‘king’ (see LP: ingi and Sturl Hrafn 15/4); it could also be a variant of the name Yngvi, which is used in poetry for various legendary kings and heroes (see LP: ingi, Yngvi). Skj B treats it as a pers. n. (of a sea-king) and translates hringkofl Inga ‘the ring-cowl of Ingi’ as ‘ring byrnie’ (ringbrynjen). However, hringkofl ‘ring-cowl’ does not appear to be part of a kenning; rather, it most likely denotes a specific type of protective armour. Kufl ‘cowl’ was a combination of a cloak and a hood worn by monks, and protective armour made from iron rings covering the head and shoulders and worn beneath helmets is known from ON and continental sources (see Falk 1914, 169-70). See also ‘Rüstung’ in RGA 25, 446.