Rv Lv 6II/8 — merar ‘a mare’s’
Aldr hefk frétt, þats feldu
fránstalls konur allar
— verðrat menja myrðir
mjúkorðr — hǫfuðdúkum.
Nú tér Hlǫkk of hnakka
haukstrindar sér binda
— skrýðisk brúðr við bræði
bengagls — merar tagli.
Hefk aldr frétt, þats allar konur feldu hǫfuðdúkum fránstalls; myrðir menja verðrat mjúkorðr. Nú tér Hlǫkk haukstrindar binda tagli merar of hnakka sér; brúðr skrýðisk við bræði bengagls.
I have always understood that all women wrapped themselves in headdresses of snake-support [GOLD]; the murderer of neck-ornaments [GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr] will not be gentle in his speech. Now the Hlǫkk <valkyrie> of the hawk-land [ARM > WOMAN = Ragna] ties a mare’s tail around her neck; the lady got dressed up for the feeder of the wound-gosling [RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIOR = Rǫgnvaldr].
notes
[8] tagli merar ‘a mare’s tail’: It is not clear who is insulting whom here. Rǫgnvaldr accuses Ragna of wearing a mare’s tail around her neck and the association of women and mares (particularly their hindquarters) implies a strong sexuality (cf. ÍF 28, 155 and ÍF 29, 269). At the same time, it is conceivable that Rǫgnvaldr thinks Ragna is impugning his masculinity by presenting him with a token from a female animal. The saga-author may have seen it this way, as Ragna goes on to claim that the horsehair is in fact from a stallion, as if she were asserting her own ability to behave like a man. And indeed she gets what she wants, though only after she has covered herself in a more conventional silk headdress. See also Clunies Ross 1992a.