Rv Lv 11II/8 — eldar ‘the fires’
Ala kvezk Einarr vilja
engan Rǫgnvalds drengja
— mér kemr Gauts á góma
gjalfr — nema jarlinn sjalfan.
Veitk, at hratzk í heitum
hugþekkr firum ekki;
inn gekk, Yggs þars brunnu
eldar síð á kveldi.
Einarr kvezk vilja ala engan drengja Rǫgnvalds nema jarlinn sjalfan; gjalfr Gauts kemr á góma mér. Veitk, at ekki hugþekkr firum hratzk í heitum; gekk inn, þars eldar Yggs brunnu síð á kveldi.
Einarr said that he wished to entertain none of the followers of Rǫgnvaldr except the jarl himself; the roaring sea of Gautr <= Óðinn> [POETRY] comes to my palate. I know that [the one] not amiable to men overturned his promises; I went in where the fires of Yggr <= Óðinn> [SWORDS] burned late in the evening.
notes
[7, 8] eldar Yggs ‘the fires of Yggr <= Óðinn> [SWORDS]’: The same kenning is used in Bjbp Jóms 26/1I, where the context (e.g. the verb kljúfa ‘cleave’) suggests that it refers to a ‘sword’ rather than more generically to a ‘weapon’, hence the translation adopted here. The implication is that Rǫgnvaldr is being received with swords rather than a welcoming hearth. The same kenning, with other names for Óðinn, occurs in earlier and contemporary poetry in GSúrs Lv 27/3V, KormǪ Sigdr 4/2III and HaukrV Ísldr 8/3IV. Bibire 1988 sees Odinic imagery and motifs throughout the st.
kennings
- eldar Yggs — the fires of Yggr <= Óðinn> [SWORDS]
grammar
case: nom.
number: pl.