Upp sǫgðu lǫg — lagðisk
líf skjótt firum — hlífa
gnóg til gumna feigðar
gǫlkn við randar bǫlku.
Gǫlkn hlífa sǫgðu upp lǫg, gnóg til feigðar gumna, við bǫlku randar; líf lagðisk skjótt firum.
Monsters of shields [AXES] proclaimed the laws, enough for the doom of warriors, at the walls of the rim [SHIELDS]; life was quickly laid aside for men.
[4] gǫlkn ‘monsters’: The kinship of this word with base-words of axe-kennings such as flagð ‘troll-woman’ and gýgr ‘giantess’ suggests an axe-kenning (and so Meissner 148) rather than a sword-kenning, as implied by the prose context. The two other skaldic instances of galkn, in Hókr Eirfl 7/4 and Anon (Gunnl) 2/4V (Gunnl 2), also combine it with words for ‘shield’. The exact meaning and etymology of galkn are uncertain (ÍO, AEW: galkn).
case: nom.
number: pl.