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.
[4] æ: á 109a Iˣ
[4, 8] svei þeim manni æ ‘fie upon that man forever’: This curse occurs like a refrain in the same form at the end of each helmingr. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and Guðni Jónsson (FSGJ) both omit the adv. æ ‘forever’ in l. 4 but retain it in l. 8, presumably because the adv. produces a seven-syllable line in l. 4. Kock proceeds on the assumption that the curse in l. 4 is repeated in identical form in l. 8 (NN §§1482, 2611); however, he regards the reading þæim æ as a way of writing þæima or þema, a variant of the m. sg. dat. form þessom of the demonstrative pron. sjá ‘this’ (NN §2611; ANG §470).