Herv Lv 16VIII (Heiðr 40)/2 — hendr ‘hands’
Ek mun hirða ok í hendr nema
hvassan mæki, ef ek hafa mættak.
Uggi ek eigi eld brennanda;
þegar loga lægir, er ek lít yfir.
Ek mun hirða hvassan mæki ok nema í hendr, ef ek mættak hafa. Ek uggi eigi brennanda eld; loga lægir þegar, er ek lít yfir.
I will guard the sharp sword and take it in my hands, if I might have it. I do not fear the burning fire; the flame will subside as soon as I look upon it.
readings
notes
[2] nema í hendr ‘take it in my hands’: Echoes l. 8 of the previous stanza. The agreement of the other mss on the sg. hönd ‘hand’ is not enough to go against the main ms. here, since in 2845 this is a direct repetition of its reading, hönd, in l. 8 of the previous stanza, a reading rejected in the present edn. Andrews (1920, 97-8), however, argues for the ‘poetic effect’ created (in R715ˣ only) by the use of the sg. form following the pl. in the previous stanza: ‘Hervǫr asserts her readiness to take it in one hand, answering not only the expressed doubt as to her courage, but also any possible implication as to her strength’.