Maðr þóttumz ek mennskr til þessa,
áðr ek sali yðra sækja réðak.
Selðu mér ór haugi, þann er hatar brynjur,
dverga smíði; dugira þér at leyna.
Ek þóttumz mennskr maðr til þessa, áðr ek réðak sækja sali yðra. Selðu mér ór haugi, þann er hatar brynjur, smíði dverga; dugira þér at leyna.
I thought myself a human being until this, before I resolved to seek your halls. Give me from the mound that which hates mail-shirts, smith-craft of dwarfs; it will not help you to hide it.
[6] þann er hatar brynjur ‘that which hates mail-shirts’: I.e., destroys mail-shirts. This is not structurally a kenning, but cf. GSúrs Lv 19/7V (Gísl) hatr brynju ‘the hatred of the mail-shirt [SWORD]’. The verb hata can mean both ‘hate’ and ‘destroy, damage’, either of which is appropriate here. The eds of CPB (CPB, I, 165) replace this line with hvassan mæki ‘the sharp sword’, which in the present edn occurs in Heiðr 25/6 and 40/3.