Án Lv 1VIII (Án 1)/2 — skelkinn ‘fond of mockery’
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
[2] skelkinn ‘fond of mockery’: This word is interpreted by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) as meaning spottelysten ‘given to mockery, malicious’ (cf. the verb skelkja ‘mock’ and the noun skelkr ‘mockery’). LP: 2. skelkinn, 2. skelkja, 2. skelkr suggests that both the adj. skelkinn and the verb skelkja are related to the noun skálkr ‘servant, rogue’. There are homonyms to most of these words: LP: 1. skelkinn ‘fearful’, 1. skelkja ‘frighten’, 1. skelkr ‘fright, fear’. Both skelkinn ‘fearful’ and skelkinn ‘given to mockery’ apparently occur only once each (LP: 1.-2. skelkinn); the sense ‘mocking’ makes better sense in this stanza than the sense ‘fearful’.