Bragi Rdr 11III/3 — fljóða ‘among women’
Ok fyr hǫnd í holmi
Hveðru brynju Viðris
fengeyðandi fljóða
fordæða nam ráða.
Allr gekk herr und hurðir
Hjarranda framm kyrrar
reiðr af Reifnis skeiði
ráðalfs af mar brôðum.
Ok fengeyðandi fordæða fljóða nam ráða í holmi fyr hǫnd Viðris Hveðru brynju. Allr herr ráðalfs gekk framm brôðum reiðr af skeiði Reifnis, af mar, und kyrrar hurðir Hjarranda.
And the booty-destroying evil-doer among women [= Hildr] took control on the island on behalf of the Viðrir <= Óðinn> of the Hveðra <troll-woman> of the mail-coat [AXE > WARRIOR = Hǫgni]. All the army of the control-elf [RULER = Hǫgni (?)] went forward quickly, enraged, from the ground of Reifnir <sea-king> [SEA], from the sea, beneath unwavering hurdles of Hjarrandi <= Óðinn> [SHIELDS].
notes
[3-4] fengeyðandi fordæða fljóða ‘the booty-destroying evil-doer among women [= Hildr]’: Considered here to be a direct reference, via the hap. leg. adj. fengeyðandi ‘booty-destroying’, to Hildr’s practice of destroying the usual fengr ‘booty’ to be found on the field of battle, that is, dead men and their possessions, by reviving the fighters every evening. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; LP: fengeyðandi) understands feng to be synonymous with gagn ‘victory (in battle)’, meaning that Hildr prevents both sides from winning the fight by reviving the dead. The noun fordæða has strong connotations of the kinds of sorcery thought to have been practised by women in early Scandinavia (cf. LP, Fritzner: fordæða).
kennings
- fengeyðandi fordæða fljóða — the booty-destroying evil-doer among women [= Hildr]