Keth Lv 3VIII (Ket 5)/4 — svá ‘thus’
Hængr ek heiti kominn ór Hrafnistu
hefnir Hallbjarnar; hví skríðr þú svá, inn armi?
Friðmálum mæla mun ek eigi við Finn ragan;
heldr mun ek boga benda þann er mér Brúni gaf.
Ek heiti Hængr, kominn ór Hrafnistu, hefnir Hallbjarnar; hví skríðr þú svá, inn armi? Ek mun eigi mæla friðmálum við ragan Finn; heldr ek mun benda boga, þann er Brúni gaf mér.
I am named Hœngr (‘Salmon’), come from Hrafnista, avenger of Hallbjǫrn [= Ketill]; why do you glide thus, wretch? I will not speak words of peace to a cowardly Saami; rather I will bend the bow, which Brúni gave me.
readings
[4] hví skríðr þú svá inn armi: hygg ek eigi friðar biðja 471
notes
[4] hví skríðr þú svá ‘why do you glide thus’: The verb skríða is used three times in the exchange between Ketill and Gusi (Ket 3a, 4 and 5): with reference to Gusi’s movement down from the sledge (Ket 3a), to the movement of a wolf, referring to Ketill (Ket 4), who is on skis (cf. Ket 6), and to Gusi’s mode of transport (Ket 5). In all three stanzas the verb appears to be demeaning, most overtly in Ket 4, where Gusi compares Ketill to a wolf. In Ket 5 it refers to the Saami use of sledges drawn by reindeer (cf. Ket 3a) and may denigrate such a mode of transport.