Sigv ErfÓl 18I/4 — dróttin ‘their lord’
Bjǫrn frák auk af œrnum
endr stǫllurum kenndu
hug, hvé halda dugði
— hann sótti framm — dróttin.
Fell í her með hollum
hann verðungar mǫnnum;
leyfðrs at hilmis hǫfði
hróðrauðigs sá dauði.
Frák auk Bjǫrn endr kenndu stǫllurum af œrnum hug, hvé dugði halda dróttin; hann sótti framm. Hann fell í her með hollum mǫnnum verðungar; sá dauði at hǫfði hróðrauðigs hilmis [e]s leyfðr.
I have heard also how Bjǫrn at that time taught the marshals, with abundant courage, how it was fitting to protect their lord; he pressed forward. He fell in the army with the loyal men of the retinue; that death at the head of the fame-rich leader is praised.
notes
[1, 3, 4] af œrnum hug, hvé dugði halda dróttin ‘with abundant courage, how it was fitting to protect their lord’: (a) This is construed following ÍF 27, with halda + acc. meaning ‘protect’ (cf. the same construction in Steinn Nizv 5/5, 8II, where the protectors are also hugfylldir ‘courage-filled’). Œrnum ‘abundant, enough’ qualifies hug ‘courage, mind’. (b) Both Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B) and Kock (NN §1116) assume that hug is the direct object of halda, normally ‘hold’, Finnur by assuming a cpd dróttinhug ‘loyalty to one’s lord’ (with tmesis) and Kock by assuming dróttinn is an error for dat. sg. dróttni, which he does not explain. Both also adopt the minority reading œrnu rather than œrnum, hence adv. at/af œrnu ‘fully, abundantly’. Finnur chooses at, the reading of 61 alone, while Kock (NN §2478) prefers the majority reading af.