ÞjóðA Magnfl 10II/7 — vas ‘was’
Bôru bǫslar fleiri
bogmenn at hǫr tognum;
mundit þann dag Þrœndi
þreyta fyrr at skeytum.
Svá þykkt flugu síðan
snœridǫrr of skœru
— ótt vas ǫrdrif látit —
illa sátt á milli.
Bogmenn bôru fleiri bǫslar at tognum hǫr; þann dag mundit Þrœndi þreyta fyrr at skeytum. Síðan flugu snœridǫrr of skœru svá þykkt, sátt illa á milli; ótt ǫrdrif vas látit.
Bowmen placed more arrows on the drawn bowstring; that day the Þrœndir would not be the first to let up with their missiles. Then the thonged javelins flew over the fight so densely [that] you could hardly see between them; a raging arrow-drift was sent.
readings
[7] vas (‘var’): varð H
notes
[7] ótt ǫrdrif vas látit ‘a raging arrow-drift was sent’: A contextual translation, but not unreasonable. Kock proposed taking látit as ‘they said that’ (NN §2525), though his suggested parallel is not close. There seems to be a similar conception behind Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson’s translation in ÍF 28, örvum þótti ört drífa ‘the arrows seemed / were thought to be driven furiously’ (Hkr 1991 similar).
grammar
Irregular verbs: vera (to be)
| indic. | subj. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pres. | past | pres. | past | ||
| sing. pl. | 1 2 3 1 2 3 | em ert er erum eruð eru | var vart var várum váruð váru | sé sér sé sém séð sé | væra værir væri værim værið væri |
| imperative past part. | ver, verið verit | ||||