Barn at aldri þykkik brǫgnum vesa,
þó hefk forn tíðendi fregin.
Sannligar sǫgur þykkjumk ek …
fyr lǫngu liðnar.
Þykkik brǫgnum vesa barn at aldri, þó hefk fregin forn tíðendi. Þykkjumk ek sannligar sǫgur … fyr lǫngu liðnar.
I seem to men to be a child in age, yet I have heard ancient tidings. True tales I believe … long ago passed.
[1] barn at aldri ‘a child in age’: Rǫgnvaldr must have been at least in his early forties when Hl was composed, and this phrase is most likely some sort of modesty topos that is not to be understood literally – i.e. the poet is saying that his is a childish composition provoking the listeners’ response.