Hildr Lv 1I/3 — hǫlða ‘of freeholders’
Hafnið Nefju nafna;
nú rekið gand ór landi
horskan hǫlða barma;
hví bellið því, stillir?
Illts við ulf at ylfask
Yggs valbríkar slíkan;
muna við hilmis hjarðir
hœgr, ef renn til skógar.
Hafnið nafna Nefju; nú rekið gand, horskan barma hǫlða, ór landi; hví bellið því, stillir? Illts at ylfask við slíkan ulf Yggs valbríkar; muna hœgr við hjarðir hilmis, ef renn til skógar.
You renounce Nefja’s namesake [= Hrólfr]; now you banish the wolf, the wise brother of freeholders, from the land; why do you risk that, lord? It is dangerous to threaten such a wolvish enemy of the Yggr <= Óðinn> of the slain-plank [SHIELD > WARRIOR (= Haraldr)]; he will not be gentle with the ruler’s herds if he runs to the forest.
readings
[3] hǫlða: hǫrða 68, 75c, 325V, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, hǫfða Bb
notes
[3] horskan barma hǫlða ‘the wise brother of freeholders’: Skj B takes this noun phrase as the acc. object of bella ‘risk, be engaged in, harm, destroy’ (l. 4) and translates the clause as hvorfor behandler I höldernes kloge frænde således, konge? ‘why do you treat the wise kinsman of free farmers in such a manner, king?’. However, bella cannot take an acc. object (see NN §§2007, 2218). Barma hǫlða ‘the brother of freeholders’ refers to the fact that Hrólfr belonged to the social class of freeholders or free farmers (see Note to Anon Nkt 15/2II).