Anon Krm 27VIII/2 — at ‘My’
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
Harðla líðr at ævi:
grimt stendr grand af naðri;
góinn byggvir sal hjarta.
Væntum hins, at Viðris
vöndr í Ellu standi;
sonum mínum mun svella
sinn föður ráðinn verða.
Ei munu snarpir sveinar
sitt kyrt vera láta.
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi. Líðr harðla at ævi: grimt grand stendr af naðri; góinn byggvir sal hjarta. Væntum hins, at vöndr Viðris standi í Ellu; mun svella sonum mínum föður sinn verða ráðinn. Snarpir sveinar munu ei láta sitt vera kyrt.
We hewed with the sword. My life is drawing very much to to its end: grim danger emanates from the serpent; the snake occupies the hall of my heart [BREAST]. We expect this, that the staff of Viðrir <= Óðinn> [SPEAR] will become lodged in Ella <Northumbrian king>; the slaying of their father will cause my sons’ hearts to swell with rage. Those bold boys will not let this concern of theirs rest.
notes
[2] líðr harðla at ævi ‘my life is drawing very much to its end’: Lit. ‘It’s drawing very much to [the end of my] life’; cf. Fritzner: líða (líða at 2). Among previous eds, Rafn (1826), Pfeiffer (1860) and Valdimar Ásmundarson (Krm 1891) retain the mss’ arfi, dat. sg. of arfr ‘inheritance, estate (of one deceased)’, as the final word in the line, evidently taking this as a metonymic expression for ‘death’ (so Rafn 1826, 149), and understanding the accompanying verb and prep. (líðr… at) as forming with it an impersonal construction meaning lit. ‘it passes towards death’, i.e. ‘[my] death is approaching’. The emended reading ævi ‘life’ has been adopted by all other eds, including the present, and is based upon a marginal alternative reading to R702ˣ in the hand of Magnús Ólafsson (see Skj AI, 648). Ævi is also in the dat. here and participates in an impersonal construction with the verb líða ‘pass’, this time with the meaning ‘life is failing’. The intensive adv. harðla ‘greatly, very much’ ensures that the line does not convey too great a sense of life drawing peacefully to a close, which would be inappropriate in the present context.