Bjbp Jóms 3I/1 — Dreng ‘The fellow’
Dreng var dátt of svarra
(dorgar vangs) fyr lǫngu
(því hefr oss of unga
eldreið skapi haldit).
Þó hefk ort of ítra
allfátt mjaðar þellu;
vel samir enn of eina
ǫlselju mér þylja.
Dreng var dátt of svarra fyr lǫngu; því skapi hefr haldit oss of unga dorgar vangs eldreið. Þó hefk ort allfátt of ítra þellu mjaðar; vel samir mér enn þylja of eina ǫlselju.
The fellow [I] was charmed by the woman long ago; that mood has persisted in us [me] in relation to the young chariot of the fire of the plain of the fishing-line [(lit. ‘fire-chariot of the plain of the fishing-line’) SEA > GOLD > WOMAN]. Yet I have composed very little about the excellent pine-tree of mead [WOMAN]; it is still very fitting for me to recite about a certain ale-willow [WOMAN].
notes
[1] dreng ‘the fellow [I]’: The noun is in the acc. sg., as part of an impersonal construction. The connotations of the word drengr here are elusive. It normally has a positive, even heroic, sense such as ‘(young) man, (manly) man, warrior’, as frequently in Jóms (e.g. st. 8/2, and cf. snyrtidrengja ‘fine young warriors’, drengmenn ‘fighting-men’ in st. 39/2, 8), but it also appears in mock-heroic contexts; see Notes to Anon Sveinfl 1/6, Sigv Austv 5/2.