Hrauð í himin upp glóðum
hafs; gekk sær af afli;
bǫrð, hykk, at ský skerðu;
skaut Ránar vegr mána.
Hrauð glóðum hafs upp í himin; sær gekk af afli; hykk, at bǫrð skerðu ský; vegr Ránar skaut mána.
The embers of the ocean were thrown up towards heaven; the sea moved powerfully; I believe that prows pierced the clouds; the road of Rán <goddess> [SEA] dashed against the moon.
[1] hrauð; himin ‘were thrown; heaven’: Himinhrjóðr lit. ‘sky-devastator’ (or ‘one with horns so high that they pierce the sky’) is the name of an ox (see Þul Øxna 2/1 and Note to Anon Þorgþ II l. 5). The similarity between the name and the wording of l. 1 could be coincidental, but in view of the imagery conjured up in l. 3 (‘the sea dashed against the moon’), the play on words is more likely to have been deliberate (see the next Note). — [1-2] hrauð glóðum hafs ‘the embers of the ocean were thrown’: The verb hrjóða ‘throw, fling’ is used impersonally with glóðum ‘embers’ as the dat. object. ‘The embers of the ocean’ refer to phosphorescence (ON mǫrueldr; see Context above).