SnSt Lv 7III/4 — garða ‘of the fences’
Komk inn, þars sat svanni
svanna vænstr í ranni;
Gerðr leysti sú svarðar
svarðakr raðar garða.
Komk inn, þars sat svanni, vænstr svanna, í ranni; sú Gerðr garða raðar svarðar leysti svarðakr.
I came in where a woman, the most beautiful of women, sat inside the hall; that Gerðr <goddess> of the fences of the ridge of the scalp [HEAD > HEADBANDS > WOMAN] was loosening her scalp-field [HAIR].
readings
[4] garða: garði W
notes
[3, 4] sú Gerðr garða raðar svarðar ‘that Gerðr <goddess> of the fences of the ridge of the scalp [HEAD > HEADBANDS > WOMAN]’: Emendation is needed, because garði m. dat. sg. ‘fence, enclosure, yard, house’ (so W) cannot be accommodated syntactically in this clause. The present edn follows Skj B, which is least intrusive in terms of emendation. Kock (NN §2193; Skald) further emends svarðakr m. acc. sg. ‘scalp-field’ to svarðakrs gen. sg. and construes sú Gerðr garða svarðar leysti raðar svarðakrs which can be translated as ‘that Gerðr <goddess> of the houses of the scalp [HEADDRESSES > WOMAN] was loosening her rows of the scalp-field [HAIR > LOCKS OF HAIR]’.
kennings
- garða raðar svarðar — of the fences of the ridge of the scalp [HEADBANDS]
- sú Gerðr garða raðar svarðar — that Gerðr <goddess> of the fences of the ridge of the scalp [WOMAN]
grammar
case: gen.
number: pl.