OBarr Frag 1III/3 — ræðr ‘rules’
Hvégis, Draupnis drógar
dís — ramman spyrk vísa —
(sá ræðr) valdr (fyr veldi)
vagnbrautar mér fagnar.
Hvégis valdr vagnbrautar fagnar mér, dís drógar Draupnis; spyrk vísa ramman; sá ræðr fyr veldi.
In whatever way the ruler of the wagon-road [SKY/HEAVEN > = God] welcomes me, dís <minor female deity> of the drawing of Draupnir <mythical ring> [GOLD > WOMAN]; I hear the lord is powerful; he rules over the realm.
notes
[All]: It is also possible to construe the helmingr’s syntax in several different ways; cf. Skj B for the above interpretation. Kock (NN §427) construes with two parallel clauses, ramman spyrk vísa ‘I hear the lord is powerful’ (l. 2) and sá valdr ræðr fyr veldi vagnbrautar ‘that ruler rules over the realm of the wagon-road’ (ll. 3-4). — [All]: The main subject of Ormr’s poem is unknown. The poet seems to be speculating about the welcome he anticipates receiving in heaven. If Ormr came from the Hebrides, where much of the population was Christian well before Christianity came to Norway and Iceland, it is likely that the referent of the kenning in ll. 3-4 is the Christian God, rather than Óðinn. Skj B is undecided, while Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 180) suggests the helmingr may be about Óðinn ‘and perhaps refers to the poet’s reception in Valhǫll or heaven’.