Kantu mjúkligar, mær in harðleita,
leika at hrækerti en hölðar aðrir sex.
Sel þú mér sárloga sveipinn orms dýnu;
fús em ek fljóð at kyssa; fer sem má jöfri.
In harðleita mær, kantu leika at hrækerti mjúkligar en sex aðrir hölðar. Sel þú mér sárloga sveipinn dýnu orms; ek em fús at kyssa fljóð; fer jöfri sem má.
Hard-faced girl, you know how to play with the corpse-candle [SWORD] more nimbly than six other champions. Give me the wound-flame [SWORD], wrapped in the eiderdown of the serpent [GOLD]; I am eager to kiss the woman; let it go as it may with the prince [me].
[2] hrækerti ‘the corpse-candle [SWORD]’: A sword-kenning with a base-word expressing the concept ‘fire, flame’, as in sárlogi ‘wound-flame’ (l. 5); cf. blóðkerti ‘blood-candle’, understood from the context (Árm Lv 1/8II and Note) as a spear-kenning, but closely matching common patterns for sword-kennings (cf. Meissner 150-1). Falk (1914b, 52) records several sword names with the element hræ- ‘corpse’.