Vágþrýsta berr vestan
— vættik lands fyr brandi —
— hvalmœni skefr — húna
hógdýr of lǫg bógu.
Hógdýr húna berr vágþrýsta bógu vestan of lǫg; skefr hvalmœni; vættik lands fyr brandi.
The gentle animal of mast-tops [SHIP] carries its wave-pressed shoulders over the sea from the west; it scrapes the whale-ridge [SEA]; I expect land before the prow.
[4] bógu ‘shoulders’: The metaphorical depiction of the ship as an animal in the base-word of the kenning ‘animal of mast-tops’ is continued here by referring to the ship’s bow as the shoulders of the animal.