SnSt Ht 52III/2 — darraðar ‘of the standard’
Sær skjǫldungs niðr skúrum;
skǫpt darraðar lyptask;
hrindr gunnfana grundar
glygg of frœknum tiggja.
Geisa vé fyr vísa;
veðr stǫng at hlym Gungnis;
styrk eru mót und merkjum
málms of ítran hilmi.
Niðr skjǫldungs sær skúrum; skǫpt darraðar lyptask; glygg hrindr gunnfana of frœknum tiggja grundar. Vé geisa fyr vísa; stǫng veðr at hlym Gungnis; mót málms eru styrk und merkjum of ítran hilmi.
The sovereign’s kinsman [= Skúli] sows showers [of missiles]; the shafts of the standard are lifted; the strong wind presses against the battle-banner above the bold lord of the land [RULER]. Pennants rush before the prince; the standard-pole advances towards the crash of Gungnir <spear> [BATTLE]; meetings of metal [BATTLES] are mighty beneath the banners around the glorious leader.
notes
[2] darraðar ‘of the standard’: Dǫrruðr can mean either ‘spear’ or ‘standard’ (see Holtsmark 1939, Poole 1991, 125-31 and the literature cited there). In the present context the meaning ‘standard’ is preferable because the imagery of standards, banners and pennants occurs in both helmingar. Skj B takes darraðar with skúrum ‘showers’ (l. 1): Darraðar skúrum skjǫldungs sær niðr translated as Fyrstens spydbyger falder ned ‘The lord’s spear-showers fall down’. Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) also connects skúrum with darraðar, but he takes niðr as a noun rather than as an adv.: skjǫldungs niðr sær darraðar skúrum ‘the lord’s relative sows showers of spears’. Both of these interpretations are less preferable from the point of view of word order because they result in an awkward tripartite line (l. 2).