Anon Krm 14VIII/7 — leiks ‘the game’
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
Hörð kom ríð á skjöldu;
nár fell niðr til jarðar
á Norðimbralandi.
Varat um eina óttu
öldum þörf at frýja
Hildar leiks, þar er hvassir
hjálmstofn bitu skjómar.
Benmána sá ek bresta;
brá því fira lífi.
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi. Hörð ríð kom á skjöldu; nár fell niðr til jarðar á Norðimbralandi. Um eina óttu varat þörf at frýja öldum leiks Hildar, þar er hvassir skjómar bitu hjálmstofn. Ek sá benmána bresta; því brá lífi fira.
We hewed with the sword. A hard storm assailed shields; a corpse fell down to earth in Northumbria. Once, at daybreak there was no cause to reproach people over the game of Hildr <valkyrie> [BATTLE], where sharp shiners <swords> bit [many a] helmet-peg [HEAD]. I saw wound-moons [SHIELDS] break; men’s lives ceased as a result.
readings
[7] leiks (‘l[...]iks’): so 147, leik all others
notes
[5, 6-7] varat þörf at frýja öldum leiks Hildar ‘there was no cause to reproach people over the game of Hildr <valkyrie> [BATTLE]’: I.e. ‘to find fault with the way people fought’. Alone among the various mss 147 has here the gen. form leiks (‘l[…]iks’) which seems to be correct in the context. The verb frýja (cf. st. 5/2, above) in the sense ‘upbraid sby with the lack of sth.’ may take the dat. of the person upbraided and the gen. of the quality lacking, see LP: frýja 2. Most previous eds read leiks, presumably by emendation, since 147 appears to have been illegible to them; see Olsen (Ragn 1906-8, 188). The present ed. adopts the reading leiks from that ms.
kennings
- leiks Hildar, — the game of Hildr <valkyrie>, [BATTLE]
grammar
case: gen.