Þás forns Litar flotna
á fangboða ǫngli
hrøkkviáll of hrokkinn
hekk Vǫlsunga drekku.
Þás hrøkkviáll drekku Vǫlsunga hekk of hrokkinn á ǫngli fangboða flotna forns Litar.
When the coiling eel of the drink of the Vǫlsungar [POISON > = Miðgarðsormr] hung coiled up on the fishing hook of the wrestling-challenger of the followers of ancient Litr <giant> [GIANTS > = Þórr].
[1] Litar ‘of Litr <giant>’: Litr is not named elsewhere as a giant, though the kenning type (cf. Meissner 256) makes his identity as a giant here almost certain. Litr appears as a dwarf-name in Vsp 12/4 and several other places (cf. SnE 1998, II, 489) and once as an ox-heiti (Þul Øxna 2/5). Litr was also the name of the dwarf that Þórr kicked into the fire at Baldr’s funeral (SnE 2005, 46). The common noun litr means ‘colour’, especially the colour of the sky at dawn or dusk.