Ball í Keilu kolli,
Kjallandi brauzt alla,
áðr drapt Lút ok Leiða,
lézt dreyra Búseyru,
heptir Hengjankjǫptu,
Hyrrokkin dó fyrri,
þó vas snemr in sáma
Svívǫr numin lífi.
Ball í kolli Keilu, brauzt alla Kjallandi, áðr drapt Lút ok Leiða, lézt dreyra Búseyru, heptir Hengjankjǫptu, Hyrrokkin dó fyrri, þó vas snemr in sáma Svívǫr numin lífi.
There was a clang on Keila’s crown, you broke all of Kjallandi, you had already killed Lútr and Leiði, you caused Búseyra to bleed, you bring Hengjankjǫpta to a halt, Hyrrokkin had died previously, yet the swarthy Svívǫr was [even] earlier deprived of life.
[1] Keilu ‘Keila’s’: An otherwise unknown giantess. The common noun keila appears in a þula as a kind of fish, cusk or tusk (Brosmius brosme), much used for stockfish in Scandinavia (Þul Fiska 4/4) and also in a list of heiti for a hen in ms. B (Þul Hana 1/7). The underlying meaning seems to be ‘narrow crevice in a ravine, waterway’ (AEW: keila), a sense probably transferred to the female sexual organs.