Sturl Hrafn 6II/6 — völdum ‘power’
Fyst tók fjörleystum
fróðr af Nesþjóðum
gjöld inn griðmildi
gætir norðsætra.
Öll var ógnfallin
öld af stórvöldum
hrædd við herklæddan
herði böðgerðar.
Fyst tók fróðr gætir norðsætra, inn griðmildi, gjöld af fjörleystum Nesþjóðum. Öll öld var ógnfallin af stórvöldum, hrædd við herklæddan herði böðgerðar.
First the wise protector of the northern settlements [NORWEGIAN KING = Hákon], the one generous with peace, took payments from the Ness-people who ransomed their lives. All men were terror-struck by the supreme power, afraid of the war-clad strengthener of battle [WARRIOR].
readings
[6] ‑völdum: so Flat, veldum F
notes
[6] stórvöldum ‘by the supreme power’: Lit. ‘by the great powers’. Hap. leg. The translation is conjectural. Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 95) suggests den store magt ‘the great power’ and Skj B gives for den store magt (el. ved den store skyld, de selv havde begåt?) ‘by the great power (or by the great offence they themselves had committed?)’. LP: stórvald has megen magt, overmagt ‘much power, superior force’ with the option megen skyld ‘much guilt, blame’, and Kock (NN §108) provides the translation brott ‘crime’. According to the prose texts Hákon gave the people of Caithness the choice between friðr ‘peace’ or afarkostir ‘harsh conditions, retributions’.