ÞKolb Eirdr 3I/4 — hót ‘somewhat’
Setti jarl, sás atti,
ógnfróðr, á lǫg stóði
hrefnis, hôva stafna
hót Sigvalda at móti.
Margr skalf hlumr, en hvergi
huggendr bana uggðu,
þeirs gôtu sæ slíta,
sárgamms, blǫðum ára.
Ógnfróðr jarl, sás atti stóði hrefnis á lǫg, setti hôva stafna hót at móti Sigvalda. Margr hlumr skalf, en huggendr sárgamms, þeirs gôtu slíta sæ blǫðum ára, uggðu hvergi bana.
The battle-wise jarl, who urged the stud-horses of the strake [SHIPS] onto the sea, directed high stems somewhat against Sigvaldi. Many an oar-handle trembled, but the comforters of the wound-vulture [RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIORS], who tore the sea with the blades of oars, feared death not at all.
readings
[4] hót: hóts FskBˣ, ‘hatt’ 510
notes
[4] hót ‘somewhat’: I.e., by litotes, Eiríkr launches high stems with full force against Sigvaldi (so also ÍF 26; Konráð Gíslason 1892, 67-9). All mss except FskBˣ (and 51ˣ and 302ˣ, the other two copies of NRA51) have hót ‘a bit, a (significant) something’. In ON, this word is found in the dat. or gen. case (hóti, hóts) with adverbial sense (LP: 2. hót; CVC: hót n.), but ModIcel. also retains adverbial hót (usually in the phrase ekki hót ‘not at all, not a bit’), and it is understood adverbially here, qualifying setti at móti ‘directed against’. Skj B and Skald prefer the adverbial gen. hóts (‘hoz’), the reading of FskBˣ, taking hóts hôva stafna ‘very high stems’ together. A further, remote, possibility is to read hót as the word for ‘threat’ (LP: 1. hót; see Note to l. 3 hôva above).