Rv Lv 30II/8 — Imbólum ‘Imbólum’
Villat vinr minn kalla
— varð allr í drit falla —
— nær vas í því œrin
ógæfa — ‘miðhæfi’.
Lítt hykk, at þá þœtti
þengils mágr, es rengðisk,
— leirr fellr grár af gauri —
góligr, í Imbólum.
Vinr minn villat kalla ‘miðhæfi’; varð allr falla í drit; vas í því nær œrin ógæfa. Hykk, at mágr þengils þœtti lítt góligr þá, es rengðisk í Imbólum; grár leirr fellr af gauri.
My friend does not wish to call out ‘miðhæfi’; he fell right down in the shit; there was in that nearly enough bad luck. I think that the in-law of the prince [= Erlingr] seemed not very attractive then, when he mis-stepped in Imbólum; grey mud falls from the ruffian.
notes
[8] í Imbólum ‘in Imbólum’: Suggestions for where this was include Ampipholis in Macedonia and the Isle of Imbros in the Dardanelles (ÍF 34, 233 n. 2). McDougall (1987-8, 228 n. 38) concludes that the most likely place is Neochori, the harbour of Ampipholis. Meissner (1925, 183-4) did not think it was a p. n., though the author of Orkn, at any rate, clearly thought it was a town by this name (ÍF 34, 233). He also interpreted it as a nom. form, although in the st. it appears to have a dat. pl. ending.