Arn Þorfdr 7II/8 — hjarta ‘heart’
At lǫgðu skip skatnar
skilit; fell herr á þiljur;
svômu jôrn í ômu
óðhǫrð Skota blóði.
Stall drapa — strengir gullu;
stál beit, en rann sveiti;
broddr fló; bifðusk oddar
bjartir — þengils hjarta.
Skatnar lǫgðu skip skilit at; herr fell á þiljur; óðhǫrð jôrn svômu í ômu blóði Skota. Hjarta þengils drapa stall; strengir gullu; stál beit, en sveiti rann; broddr fló; bjartir oddar bifðusk.
Men steered ships decisively to the attack; troops slumped to the decking; rage-hard iron blades swam in the dark blood of Scots. The ruler’s heart was not struck with terror; bow-strings shrilled; steel bit, and gore flowed; the spear-head flew; shining sword-points quivered.
notes
[5, 8] hjarta þengils drapa stall ‘the ruler’s heart was not struck with terror’: Drapa is 3rd sg. pret. indic. of drepa ‘strike’ with the suffixed negative -a. The idiom, which also appears c. 1000 in Eil Þdr 11/1, 4III and in Arn Hryn 12/7-8 (and see Note), probably means ‘the heart stops beating’, with drepa stall meaning ‘stop, make halt’ (Halldór Halldórsson 1965, 38-64). See also Sturl Hákkv 38/1, 4.