Troll kalla mik,
tungl sjǫt-Rungnis,
auðsúg jǫtuns,
élsólar bǫl,
vilsinn vǫlu,
vǫrð náfjarðar,
hvélsvelg himins.
Hvats troll nema þat?
Kalla mik troll, tungl sjǫt-Rungnis, auðsúg jǫtuns, bǫl élsólar, vilsinn vǫlu, vǫrð náfjarðar, hvélsvelg himins. Hvats troll nema þat?
They call me troll, moon of dwelling-Rungnir [TROLL], wealth-sucker of a giant [TROLL-WOMAN], trouble of the storm-sun [TROLL], delightful company of a prophetess [TROLL-WOMAN], guardian of the corpse-fjord [GRAVE > TROLL], swallower of the wheel of the sky [(lit. ‘wheel-swallower of the sky’) SUN > TROLL]. What’s a troll if not that?
[1] kalla mik troll ‘they call me troll’: There are two possible interpretations of this line, just as there are of the first line of Bragi’s response: ‘they call me troll …’, as here, where troll is the first of a series of object complements, and troll kalla mik ‘trolls call me …’. Kock (NN §1095A) expresses a strong preference for the first option, on the ground that poets, not trolls, were creators of kennings, while Skj B takes up the second interpretation.