Hár Lv 2I/3 — eik ‘the oak’
Lætka Lundar ekkjur
(læbaugs) at því hlæja
(skjótum eik fyr útan
ey) né danskar meyjar,
Jǫrð, at eigi þørðak,
ifla flausts, í hausti
á flatslóðir Fróða
fara aptr Vali krapta.
Lætka ekkjur Lundar né danskar meyjar hlæja at því — skjótum eik læbaugs fyr útan ey —, Jǫrð flausts ifla, at eigi þørðak í hausti fara Vali krapta aptr á flatslóðir Fróða.
I will not let the widows of Lund nor Danish maidens laugh about this — we speed the oak of the deceit-ring [SEA > SHIP] beyond the island —, Jǫrð <goddess> of the ship of the hawk [ARM > WOMAN], that I did not dare in the autumn to travel in the Valr <horse> of the bollard [SHIP] back over the level tracks of Fróði <sea-king> [SEA].
notes
[2-3] eik læbaugs ‘the oak of the deceit-ring [SEA > SHIP]’: The context demands a ship-kenning with eik ‘oak’ as base-word, and læbaugs appears to be a sea-kenning, though it is unclear how it works (so Meissner 95). (a) The second element -baugs ‘ring, encircler’ would plausibly form part of a determinant meaning ‘sea’, if joined with a word meaning ‘land’, cf. eybaugr m. ‘island-ring [SEA]’ (LP: eybaugr). Læ- in its usual senses ‘deceit, harm, poison’ does not fit semantically, yet is guaranteed by the rhyme and alliteration, and therefore is left to stand here. Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; LP: læbaugr) may have been correct to surmise that this is a lost term for ‘land’ or a proper name, perhaps for an island. (b) Kock (NN §1125, followed by ÍF 27, ÍF 29 and Hkr 1991) suggested that læ is ‘poison’ here, and læbaugs ‘poison-ring’ a term for a serpent, hence perhaps a dragon-prow, whose eik ‘oak’ is a dragon-ship. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson in ÍF 27, following this, compares Bkrepp Magndr 4/2II vallbaugr ‘field-ring [SNAKE]’. He also cites Hfr ErfÓl 14/2 læsíkr ‘poison-whitefish [SNAKE]’, which refers to the ship Ormr inn langi, but this is structurally different and, as a substitute for a proper name, a special case. It is also problematic in itself, and interpreting læ as ‘land’ is among the possible solutions (see Note).
kennings
- eik læbaugs — the oak of the deceit-ring [SHIP]
grammar
case: dat.