Hringstríði varð hlýða
herr frá Þursaskerjum
— rétt segik þjóð, hvé þótti
Þórfinnr — til Dyflinnar.
Herr varð hlýða hringstríði frá Þursaskerjum til Dyflinnar; segik þjóð rétt, hvé Þórfinnr þótti.
People had to heed the ring-harmer [GENEROUS RULER] from Þursasker to Dublin; I tell men truly how Þorfinnr was regarded.
[2] Þursa‑: ‘þyssa’ 325VII, ‘þíassa’ Tóm
[2] Þursaskerjum ‘Þursasker’: Lit. ‘Giants’ skerries’. Dublin (til Dyflinnar) (l. 4) presumably marks the south-western extremity of Þorfinnr’s sphere of influence, so that one would expect Þursasker to be its north-eastern limit, just as it is the eastern boundary of Scandinavian Scotland in Hák ch. 265 (1977-82, 149; ms. ‘þussa-sker’). Finnbogi Guðmundsson’s identification of Þursasker with The Skerries, a group of islets in the extreme east of the Shetland Isles, is therefore plausible (ÍF 34). Quite close by are fishing grounds which Crawford (1987, 75) notes had the traditional name ‘de Tussek’, possibly a reminiscence of Þursa-/Þussasker.