ÞjóðA Sex 15II/5 — mǫnnum ‘men’
Alm dró upplenzkr hilmir
alla nôtt inn snjalli;
hremsur lét á hvítar
hlífr landreki drífa.
Brynmǫnnum smó benjar
blóðugr oddr, þars stóðu
— flugr óx †fannings† vigra —
Finna gjǫld í skjǫldum.
Inn snjalli upplenzkr hilmir dró alm alla nôtt; landreki lét hremsur drífa á hvítar hlífr. Blóðugr oddr smó benjar brynmǫnnum, þars gjǫld Finna stóðu í skjǫldum; flugr †fannings† vigra óx.
The valiant Oppland king drew his elm-bow all night long; the land-ruler made shafts pelt onto white shields. The bloody point pierced wounds on the byrnie-men, where the tribute of the Saami [ARROWS] penetrated shields; the flight of †fanning’s† spears increased.
readings
[5] Brynmǫnnum: búandmǫnnum F, brynjaðra H, Hr
notes
[5] brynmǫnnum ‘on the byrnie-men’: Although this cpd does not, judging by LP, occur elsewhere, whereas búand-, the reading of F, does, there seems no strong reason to choose the minority reading here, as Finnur does in Hkr 1893-1901 and Skj B. He evidently concurred with Konráð Gíslason’s sense that brynmǫnnum does not give the impression of being authentic; Konráð suggested brynnjörðum smó benjar, without explaining further (he cites SHI 6, 292, which has Mucro cruentus penetravit colonorum loricas ‘Bloodied point pierced the mailcoats of the inhabitants’) or búandmǫnnum ‘farmers’ (Nj 1875-8, II, 311). Brynmǫnnum, however, seems a reasonable expression for warriors (cf. other compounds in bryn(j)-, brynju- ‘byrnie, mailcoat’ in LP) and provides a better skothending than búand-. It is retained in most eds.