Kunni tolf, sás, tanna,
tíðum, Hallinskíða
ógnarstafr, of jǫfra,
íþróttir, framm sótti.
Ógnarstafr tanna Hallinskíða, sás tíðum sótti framm of jǫfra, kunni tolf íþróttir.
The terror-stave of the teeth of Hallinskíði <= Heimdallr> [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN], who often launched attacks on princes, had twelve skills.
[1, 4] kunni tolf íþróttir ‘had twelve skills’: This is reminiscent of Hharð Gamv 4II and Rv Lv 1II, in which Haraldr harðráði and Rǫgnvaldr Kali enumerate eight and nine skills respectively; see Note to st. 11/2 above. — [1] kunni tolf, sás, tanna: On this tripartite line, see Gade (1995a, 215).
Verbs: Preterite-present verbs
The present tense of these verbs is like the past tense of strong verbs, and their past tense is weak.
eiga | mega | kunna | skulu | munu | muna | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
indic. pres. | sing. pl. | 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd | á átt á eigum eiguð eigu | má mátt má megum meguð megu | kann kannt kann kunnum kunnuð kunnu | skal skalt skal skulum skuluð skulu | mun munt mun munum munuð munu | man mant man munum munið muna |
indic. past stem subj. pres. stem subj. past stem | átt- eig- ætt- | mátt- meg- mætt- | kunn- kunn- kynn- | skyld- skyl- skyld- | mund- myn- mynd- | mund- mun- mynd- |