Án Lv 1VIII (Án 1)/1 — skyldi ‘he should’
Skeldi mér sem skyldi
skelkinn maðr við belki;
við máttak þá vætki
vinna; svei þeim æ manni.
Varð í fang at fallaz;
feldum eldsmat nökkut
honum synjaðak heiðri;
svei þeim æ manni.
Skelkinn maðr skeldi mér við belki sem skyldi; máttak þá vinna vætki við; svei þeim manni æ. Varð at fallaz í fang; feldum eldsmat nökkut; synjaðak honum heiðri; svei þeim manni æ.
The man fond of mockery dashed me against the wall as he should; I was able to put up no resistance then; fie upon that man forever. It was necessary to grapple with each other; we [I] felled fire-nourishment [FIRE-WOOD] in some way; I deprived him of honour; fie upon that man forever.
notes
[1] sem skyldi ‘as he should’: In most previous eds the verb skyldi ‘should’ is emended to skyldit ‘should not’, presumably because it is thought that the stanza should indicate that Án is stronger than Bjǫrn and thus that Bjǫrn should not have overcome Án in the first round of the wrestling match. However, the prose exchange between Án and King Ingjaldr after the first round of the match suggests otherwise (FSGJ 2, 375): Konungr mælti þá: ‘Eigi þykkir mér þú, Án, jafnsterkr sem þú lézt.’ Án mælti: ‘Sá þykki mér, konungr, sterkari, er fyrri fellr’ ‘Then the king said: “It doesn’t seem to me as if you were as strong as you said, Án.” Án said: “The one who falls first seems to me the stronger of the two, king”’.
grammar
Verbs: Preterite-present verbs
The present tense of these verbs is like the past tense of strong verbs, and their past tense is weak.
| eiga | mega | kunna | skulu | munu | muna | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indic. pres. | sing. pl. | 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd | á átt á eigum eiguð eigu | má mátt má megum meguð megu | kann kannt kann kunnum kunnuð kunnu | skal skalt skal skulum skuluð skulu | mun munt mun munum munuð munu | man mant man munum munið muna |
| indic. past stem subj. pres. stem subj. past stem | átt- eig- ætt- | mátt- meg- mætt- | kunn- kunn- kynn- | skyld- skyl- skyld- | mund- myn- mynd- | mund- mun- mynd- | ||