Hjþ Lv 8VIII (HjǪ 19)/4 — flagð ‘the boldest’
Gakk þú framar hóti, fyrr en þú á seyði dragir
þenna þjóðkonung; þú ert flagð it hraustasta.
Ettu fram járnhrömmum, ef þú afli treystir,
drós in dulrífa, en ek mun dvergasmíði.
Gakk þú hóti framar, fyrr en þú dragir þenna þjóðkonung á seyði; þú ert it hraustasta flagð. Ettu járnhrömmum fram, ef þú treystir afli, in dulrífa drós, en ek mun dvergasmíði.
Advance a bit further before you drag this mighty king onto the fire; you are the boldest ogress. Unleash your iron claws, if you trust in your strength, wilful woman, and I will [unleash] my dwarfs’ work [SWORD].
readings
[4] flagð it hraustasta: flagðit hrausta 109a IIIˣ, ÍBR5ˣ, flagð ferligsta corrected from flagðit ferligsta in scribal hand papp6ˣ
notes
[4] flagð it hraustasta ‘the boldest ogress’: Line 4 is unmetrical as it stands. With the exception of Kock (cf. NN §2616; Skald), most eds have opted for the reading of papp6ˣ, because the line is metrical there, if ll. 3-4 are understood as a pair of ljóðaháttr lines, both with two alliterations each: þenna þjóðkonung | þú ert flagð(it) ferligsta ‘this mighty king | you are the most hideous ogress’. As a number of stanzas in this saga combine málaháttr and ljóðaháttr lines, this version of the text is plausible. However, this edn has preferred Kock’s case for emending the other mss’ hrausta to hraustasta in l. 4.