Sturl Hryn 12II/4 — dregnum ‘the worn’
Hrinda lét út herskips bröndum
hilmir frægr á saltan ægi;
eldi hrauð fyrir æsiköldum
unnar meið ór dregnum hlunni.
Almenningr varð út at sinna,
ógnar lundr, á þinni grundu;
mildir höfðu herboð höldar
harða sveld af Nóregsveldi.
Frægr hilmir lét hrinda bröndum herskips út á saltan ægi; eldi hrauð ór dregnum hlunni fyrir æsiköldum meið unnar. Almenningr á grundu þinni varð at sinna út, lundr ógnar; mildir höldar höfðu harða sveld herboð af Nóregsveldi.
The famous king had the prows of warships propelled out onto the salty sea; fire poured from the worn slipway before the terribly cold tree of the wave [SHIP]. All people in your land had to set out, tree of battle [WARRIOR]; the generous men had a very large conscripted army from the kingdom of Norway.
notes
[4] dregnum hlunni ‘worn slipway’: Ships were launched out to sea on a wooden slipway and were pulled up the same way to be stored on land for the winter. The weight of the ships as they were being pulled on the slipway wore down the wooden planks and the rubbing generated heat, causing sparks to fly from under the ships, according to LP: draga 11. That interpretation is partly supported by ONP: draga 26 præt. part.: dreginn ‘weakened, worn out’. By using the p. p. dreginn Sturla plays with the two meanings, ‘pulled’ and ‘worn’. Kock rejected the latter interpretation. He construed the couplet as eldi hrauð fyr æsiköldum meið unnar dregnum ór hlunnum ‘fire poured from the terribly cold tree of the wave dragged from the slipway’ (NN §§1106, 1914D).