Anon Krm 3VIII/6 — Dínu ‘of the Dvina’
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
Hátt bárum þá geira,
er tvítugir tölðumz
ok tjör ruðum víða.
Unnum átta jarla
austr fyr Dínu mynni;
gera fengum þá gnóga
gisting at því vígi.
Sveiti fell í sollinn
sæ; týndi lið ævi.
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi. Bárum geira hátt, þá er tölðumz tvítugir ok ruðum tjör víða. Unnum átta jarla austr fyr mynni Dínu; þá fengum gera gnóga gisting at því vígi. Sveiti fell í sollinn sæ; lið týndi ævi.
We hewed with the sword. We bore spears aloft when we reached twenty years of age, and we reddened the sword far and wide. We vanquished eight jarls out east off the mouth of the Dvina; then we gave the greedy one <wolf> ample sustenance in that battle. Blood fell into a troubled sea; troops lost their lives.
readings
[6] Dínu (‘dino’): ‘Dynu’ R702ˣ
notes
[6] Dínu ‘of the Dvina’: Since the reference here is to one of the Russian rivers known as Dvina, it is no surprise to find it located in the east. The mynni Dínu (spelt Dýnu by Pfeiffer 1860 and Wisén 1886-9) ‘mouth of the Dvina’ could be either the Gulf of Riga, into which the Western Dvina flows in Latvia, or the White Sea, on the north-west coast of Russia, where the Northern Dvina finds its outlet. The latter possibility is perhaps marginally more likely than the former, since according to Saxo (Saxo 2015, I, ix. 4. 22-3, pp. 648-51) Regnerus Lothbrog (i.e. Ragnarr loðbrók) fought against the Biarmians, who, albeit having a name related to that of modern Perm (cf. CVC: Bjarmi, m.; ÍO: Bjarmar) in central Russia, evidently lived in Northern Russia, east of the White Sea, according to Saxo’s geography (Saxo 2015, II, 1707).