Rv Lv 14II/2 — ótangi ‘rascal’
Fekk í fylkis skikkju
fangramligr ótangi;
rekkr réð hart at hnykkja
hildingi fémildum.
Sterkr vas stála Bjarki;
staka kvôðu gram nǫkkut;
afl hefr eggja skýflir
orðvandr fyr hyggjandi.
Fangramligr ótangi fekk í skikkju fylkis; rekkr réð at hnykkja fémildum hildingi hart. Bjarki stála vas sterkr; kvôðu gram staka nǫkkut; orðvandr skýflir eggja hefr afl fyr hyggjandi.
The strong-gripped rascal grabbed the cloak of the leader; the man managed to jostle the generous war-leader severely. The Bjarki <legendary hero> of weapons [WARRIOR] was strong; they said the prince stumbled a bit; the speech-impeded destroyer of edges [WARRIOR] has strength instead of intelligence.
notes
[2] ótangi ‘rascal’: Skj B emends this hap. leg. to slangi ‘rascal’ (so also Skald) and Orkn 1913-16 puts it in inverted commas. It is noted in ÍF 34 that the word tangi occurs in SnE (W 1924, 104; SnE 1848-87, II, 496), in a list of various derogatory terms for men, and it is argued that the prefix is intensifying or emphatic rather than privative, although no evidence is presented for this. However, one might compare words like óvættr ‘evil spirit, troll’ in which the prefix supplies a negative connotation to an essentially neutral word. For suggested etymologies, see AEW: tangi. It is of interest that Marwick (1929, 186) records an Orkney dialect word tangie, tongie ‘a mythical being’, more specifically ‘a mysterious goblin, or devil, who lured people to their doom’ and there may be some connection here.