Rv Lv 4II/7 — sjá ‘that’
Sextán hefik sénar
senn ok topp í enni
jarðar elli firrðar
ormvangs saman ganga.
Þat bôrum vér vitni,
vestr at hér sé flestar
— sjá liggr út við élum
ey — kollóttar meyjar.
Hefik sénar sextán senn, firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs, ok topp í enni, ganga saman. Vér bôrum þat vitni, at hér vestr sé flestar meyjar kollóttar; sjá ey liggr út við élum.
I have seen sixteen [women] all at once, denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD], and [they had] a fringe on their forehead, walking together. We bore witness to the fact that, here in the west, most maidens are bald; that island lies out in the direction of storms.
notes
[6, 7, 8] hér vestr; sjá ey ‘here in the west; that island’: The saga-author clearly understood this st. to refer to Westray which, as the westernmost of the Orkneys, does indeed lie ‘out in the direction of storms’. If there was a monastic community in this area at the time, it is more likely to have been on the small island of Papa Westray, but both the saga-context and the st. suggest that Rǫgnvaldr and his men saw the monks on Westray itself.
grammar
Pronouns and determiners: sjá/þessi (this)
| masc. | fem. | neut. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sing. | N A G D | sjá/þessi þenna/þennan þessa þessum | sjá/þessi þessa þessar þessi/þessari | þetta/þettað |
| pl. | N A G D | þessir þessa þessa þessum | þessar þessar þessa þessum | þessi þessi þessa þessum |