Sár hefk sextán, slitna brynju,
svart er mér fyr sjónum, sékat ganga.
Hneit mér við hjarta hjörr Angantý*s,
hvass blóðrefill, herðr í eitri.
Hefk sextán sár, slitna brynju, er mér svart fyr sjónum, sékat ganga. Hjörr Angantý*s hneit mér við hjarta, hvass blóðrefill, herðr í eitri.
I have sixteen wounds, a broken mail-coat, it is dark before my eyes, I cannot see to walk. Angantýr’s sword has pierced my heart, the sharp sword tip, hardened in poison.
[8] herðr í eitri ‘hardened in poison’: A commonplace of Old Norse and Old English heroic poetry. Cf. Beowulf ll. 1459-60a (Beowulf 2008, 50), of the sword Hrunting (ecg wæs īren, | ātertānum fāh, | āhyrded heaþoswāte ‘the blade was of iron, decorated with poison twigs, hardened in battle-blood’) and Heiðr 45/5-6, where both edges of Tyrfingr are said to be imbued with poison.