RvHbreiðm Hl 77III/1 — herr ‘the army’
Haraldr var (herr skar)
harðráðr sigrs bráðr;
— snart lið sleit frið —
(sverðs egg manns legg).
Bargsk ǫld; beit skjǫld
brandr þuðr; óx guðr;
skaut gramr geðframr;
gnast almr; flaug malmr.
Harðráðr Haraldr var bráðr sigrs; herr skar legg manns egg sverðs; snart lið sleit frið. Ǫld bargsk; þuðr brandr beit skjǫld; guðr óx; geðframr gramr skaut; almr gnast; malmr flaug.
Hard-ruling Haraldr was quick [to gain] victory; the army cut a man’s leg with the sword’s edge; the keen company sundered the peace. People saved themselves; a slender blade bit a shield; battle increased; the outstanding-minded lord shot; an elm-bow cracked; an arrow flew.
readings
[1] herr: ‘hęr’ papp25ˣ, ‘hær’ R683ˣ
notes
[1] herr ‘the army’: The mss have ‘hęr’ (papp25ˣ) or ‘hær’ (R683ˣ), which could be m. acc. or dat. sg. and has been emended to herr (nom. sg.) with Skj B and Holtsmark (Hl 1941). For the possible loss of final -r, see Note to st. 5/2. Kock (NN §§2083, 2990F) emends to hers (gen. sg.) ‘of the army’ as a genitival attributive to egg sverðs ‘the sword’s edge’ (l. 4), taking egg ‘edge’ as a nom. sg. to avoid the instrumental dat. (a possibility also entertained by Jón Helgason in Hl 1941).