Hér hefk hávan reistan
harðgeðjuðum varða
Dolls í døkkum helli
draug; leitak svá bauga.
Eigi veitk, hverr ýta
unnskíða ferr síðan
langa braut ok ljóta
leið of vatn it breiða.
Hér hefk reistan hávan varða harðgeðjuðum draug í døkkum Dollshelli; svá leitak bauga. Eigi veitk, hverr ýta unnskíða ferr síðan langa ok ljóta braut, leið of it breiða vatn.
Here I have raised a high cairn to a strong-minded ghost in dark Dollsteinshola; in this way I look for rings. I do not know who among the pushers of wave-skis [SHIPS > SEAFARERS] will go later the long and ugly way, the route across the broad lake.
[2, 4] harðgeðjuðum draug ‘to a strong-minded ghost’: There is no mention of a ghost in the prose anecdote and it is likely that the st. describes the building of the cairn as a prophylactic and propitiatory act against a possible, rather than actual, ghost. As well as being a general term for ‘ghost’, draugr refers specifically to the dead inhabitant of a mound or cairn (LP; Fritzner; CVC).