Sigv ErfÓl 21I/2 — hǫfuð ‘chief’
Ôleifr réð it øfra
andprútt hǫfuð landi
fulla vetr, áðr felli,
fimmtán, á því láni.
Hverr hafi hers inn nørðra
heims enda sér kenndan
— skjǫldungr helzk an skyldi
skemr — landreki inn fremri?
Ôleifr, andprútt hǫfuð, réð landi it øfra fulla fimmtán vetr, áðr felli á því láni. Hverr landreki hers inn fremri hafi kenndan sér inn nørðra enda heims? Skjǫldungr helzk skemr an skyldi.
Óláfr, the proud-spirited chief, ruled the land higher up for fifteen full years, before he died on that allotted land. Which better land-ruler of the army [KING] had claimed the more northerly end of the world? The monarch survived for a shorter time than he should have.
readings
[2] hǫfuð: jǫfurr 325VI, 73aˣ, fyrir því 61, Flat, fyrir Tóm
notes
[2] hǫfuð ‘chief’: Lit. ‘head’. LP: hǫfuð 2 gives several examples where this word means ‘person, individual’. For a similar metonymic usage of hǫfuð, see ÞjóðA Sex 19/8II, though there the allusion seems to be to the ruler’s intellect, whereas here it is taken to allude to the ruler’s role, cf. hǫfðingi ‘chieftain’. Kock (NN §2261C) is justifiably sceptical about the Skj B translation skikkelse ‘form, figure’.