Upp dró hilmir heppinn
hugstrangr á Orm langan
mann, sá er mentir kunni
mest, af sjó í festi.
‘Víst hefir vöknað næsta
vendr dyrðill þinn, frændi,’
yngvi öðrum kóngum
†aflagðr† fyrir sagði.
Heppinn, hugstrangr hilmir, sá er kunni mentir mest, dró mann í festi upp af sjó á Orm langan. ‘Vendr dyrðill þinn hefir víst næsta vöknað, frændi,’ sagði yngvi fyrir, †aflagðr† öðrum kóngum.
The lucky, strong-minded lord, who was most able in skills, dragged the man on a rope up out of the sea onto Ormr langr (‘Long Serpent’). ‘Your fine cloak has surely got almost soaked, kinsman,’ declared the prince, … other kings.
[8] sagði fyrir ‘declared’: The function of fyrir, normally ‘for, before’, is unclear. It is tentatively taken with sagði here, though segja fyrir most often means ‘foretell, prescribe’. It is unlikely to govern öðrum kóngum ‘other kings’ since separated from it. Both Árni Magnússon (761bˣ) and Finnur Jónsson (Skj A) expand the abbreviated word to fara ‘to go’ rather than fyrir, but this is still more difficult to explain.