Herfanga bauð Hringi
hjaldr einskǫpuðr galdra
— Gautr hvatti þrym þreyta
þann — ok Hilditanni.
Oflengi veldr yngva
ósætt, en vel mætti
herstefnandi hafna
hans dóm, Vǫlundr rómu.
Einskǫpuðr galdra herfanga bauð Hringi ok Hilditanni hjaldr; Gautr hvatti þreyta þann þrym. Oflengi veldr Vǫlundr rómu ósætt yngva, en herstefnandi mætti vel hafna dóm hans.
The one creator of incantations of army-tunics [BYRNIES > BATTLES > = Óðinn] ordered Hringr (‘Ring’) and Hilditǫnn (‘War-tooth’) to fight; Gautr <= Óðinn> incited [them] to prolong that clash. For too long the Vǫlundr <legendary smith> of strife [WARRIOR = Gautr Jónsson] has caused the rulers’ conflict, and the army-summoner [RULER = Hákon] would do well to reject his judgement.
[8] rómu: ‘rama’ 81a
[8] Vǫlundr rómu ‘the Vǫlundr <legendary smith> of strife [WARRIOR = Gautr Jónsson]’: The smith Vǫlundr is the protagonist of Vǫlundarkviða (Vǫl). The name could also be used in poetry as a common noun for ‘smith’, but it is otherwise not attested as the base-word in a kenning (cf. LP: Vǫlundr). It is not immediately clear why Snorri uses this name in a warrior-kenning referring to Gautr Jónsson, but it could well have had negative connotations. According to Vǫl, Vǫlundr, through deceit, killed the two young sons of his captor, King Níðuðr of Sweden, and impregnated Níðuðr’s daughter, Bǫðvildr.