Tormiðlaðr vas tívum
talhreinn meðal beina;
hvat kvað * hapta snytrir
hjalmfaldinn því valda.
Margspakr of nam mæla
môr valkastar bôru
— vasat Hœnis vinr hônum
hollr — af fornum þolli.
Talhreinn vas tívum tormiðlaðr meðal beina; hjalmfaldinn snytrir hapta kvað * hvat valda því. Margspakr môr bôru valkastar of nam mæla af fornum þolli; vinr Hœnis vasat hollr hônum.
The dung-reindeer [OX] was difficult for the gods to pierce between the shanks; the helmet-capped instructor of the divine powers [= Óðinn] said something was causing this. The deeply wise seagull of the wave of the corpse-heap [BLOOD > RAVEN/EAGLE = Þjazi] began to speak from an ancient tree; the friend of Hœnir <god> [= Loki] was not well-disposed to him.
[3] kvað *: ‘q°þo’ R(25v), ‘q’þv’ R(36v), kveðu Tˣ(26r), Tˣ(38v), A, kváðu W, kvað þú U, C
[3] kvað * ‘said’: The verb must be 3rd pers. sg. to agree with the sg. subject hjalmfaldinn snytrir hapta ‘the helmet-capped instructor of the divine powers [= Óðinn]’ (ll. 3-4), but the mss all present various unsuitable forms; the forms in both locations of R are unclearly abbreviated; U and C have 2nd pers. sg. kvað þú ‘you (sg.) said’. which is unlikely in view of the generally 3rd pers. narrative style of Haustl (except for the direct speech in st. 11); other mss’ kveðu, Tˣ (26r), Tˣ (38v) and A, may also be interpreted as imper. sg. with suffixed pron., while W’s kváðu is an unmetrical 3rd pers. pl. pret. indic.