Giekk hjörviður Hlakkar
hríðar djarfr með karfa
...
...
hendi alt að hjöltum
handsax og benlaxa
— öld lofar öðling mildan
oft — en þrjú * á lofti.
Hjörviður, djarfr hríðar Hlakkar, giekk með karfa ... hendi alt að hjöltum, handsax og benlaxa, en þrjú * á lofti; öld lofar oft mildan öðling.
The sword-tree [WARRIOR], valiant in the storm of Hlǫkk <valkyrie> [BATTLE], went along the ship ... caught everything by the hilt, short-sword and wound-salmon [SWORDS], though three [were] aloft; people often praise the generous prince.
[All]: The Text, here and throughout this edn of the poem, is based on that of Ólafur Halldórsson in ÓT 1958-2000, III, xxxiii-xxxiv. Italics indicate poor legibility in the ms., even in Ólafur’s reading assisted by ultra-violet light; see Introduction. — [5] að hjöltum ‘by the hilt’: Hjöltum is dat. pl. of hjalt n., either the pommel or knob at the distal end of the hilt, or the cross-guard between hilt and blade. The pl. normally means both parts together, and the part between is called meðalkafli m. ‘middle-piece, hilt’; this is what Óláfr catches the swords by in the prose sources.