Svát ýdróttum ôttu
éls rekninga þélar
rams af reikar himni
rauð svǫrf ofan gnauða.
Svát rauð svǫrf þélar rams éls rekninga ôttu gnauða ofan af himni reikar ýdróttum.
So that the red shavings of the file of the strong storm of swords [BATTLE > SWORD > BLOOD] rattled down from the sky of the hair-parting [HEAD] of bow-troops [WARRIORS].
[1, 4] ôttu gnauða ‘rattled’: Lit. ‘had to rattle’; ôttu (3rd pers. pl. pret. indic. of eiga) is purely pleonastic here. The verb gnauða ‘rattle’ extends the metaphor svǫrf ‘shavings’ for ‘blood’ (on which, see Note to l. 4).
Verbs: Preterite-present verbs
The present tense of these verbs is like the past tense of strong verbs, and their past tense is weak.
eiga | mega | kunna | skulu | munu | muna | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
indic. pres. | sing. pl. | 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd | á átt á eigum eiguð eigu | má mátt má megum meguð megu | kann kannt kann kunnum kunnuð kunnu | skal skalt skal skulum skuluð skulu | mun munt mun munum munuð munu | man mant man munum munið muna |
indic. past stem subj. pres. stem subj. past stem | átt- eig- ætt- | mátt- meg- mætt- | kunn- kunn- kynn- | skyld- skyl- skyld- | mund- myn- mynd- | mund- mun- mynd- |