Gollkennir lét gunni
(grœðis hests) fyr vestan
(Þundr vá leyfðr til landa)
Lundún saman bundit.
Fekk, — regn Þorins rekka
rann — of þingamǫnnum,
ýglig hǫgg, þars eggjar,
Ulfkell, bláar skulfu.
Gollkennir lét bundit saman gunni fyr vestan Lundún; leyfðr Þundr hests grœðis vá til landa. Ulfkell fekk ýglig hǫgg, þars bláar eggjar skulfu of þingamǫnnum; regn rekka Þorins rann.
The gold-master [GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr] joined battle west of London; the celebrated Þundr <= Óðinn> of the horse of the sea [SHIP > SEAFARER = Eiríkr] won lands by fighting. Ulfcytel received terrible blows, where dark blades shook over the þingamenn; the rain of the men of Þorinn <dwarf> [DWARFS > POETRY] streamed.
[5] regn‑: ‘reg‑’ Bb(128ra), hregg Tóm
[5] regn rekka Þorins ‘the rain of the men of Þorinn <dwarf> [DWARFS > POETRY]’: (a) Þorinn is a dwarf-name meaning ‘bold’ (see Note to Þul Dverga 4/6III), and this phrase appears to be a straightforward poetry-kenning alluding to the myth of the mead of poetry (cf. Meissner 428 and Note to Eskál Vell 1 [All]), though its pret. tense predicate rann ‘streamed, ran’ is curious. (b) Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901; Skj B) emends rekka ‘men’ to Rǫkkva (gen. sg. of Rǫkkvi, a sea-king), combining this with rann ‘house’ to give ‘house of Rǫkkvi [SHIELD]’, and then with regn- ‘rain’ to give ‘shield-rain [BATTLE]’. Finnur combines this with the adj. þorinn ‘brave’, the reading of the Knýtl mss, 73aˣ, 78aˣ, 54 and Bb(106rb), to produce a phrasal adj. Rǫkkva rann-regnþorinn ‘battle-brave’, which qualifies Ulfkell (l. 8). Such a reading involves emendation, tmesis, and awkward word order. (c) Skald further emends rann to gen. sg. ranns, thus avoiding tmesis, but essentially retains Skj B’s adjectival interpretation.