Arn Frag 4III/3 — armhrauð ‘arm-ring’
Bekks lá eldr ok axla
ulfliðs Dǫnum miðli;
ek sá armhrauð þakka
eitt Skônunga hônum.
Eldr bekks lá miðli ulfliðs ok axla Dǫnum; ek sá Skônunga þakka hônum eitt armhrauð.
Fire of the stream [GOLD] lay between the wrist and shoulders of the Danes; I saw the Skánungar thank him for one arm-ring.
readings
[3] armhrauð: arm 2368ˣ, ‘armraud’ 743ˣ
notes
[3] armhrauð ‘arm-ring’: The cpd apparently forms a phrase with eitt ‘one’ and so must be n., and the context suggests that it must mean ‘arm-ring’, cf. armbaugr in Lok 13/1 (NK 99). Finnur Jónsson emends to armband (Skj B; 1934a, 47). The ms. spelling ‘raud’ could, however, represent ‑hrauð, cf. ON hrjóða and OE hrēodan ‘adorn’, both recorded solely or mainly as past participles. Kock (NN §843) assumes armhrauð to be cognate with OE earm(h)rēad f. ‘arm-ornament’ which occurs, also in a context of gift-giving, in Beowulf ll. 1193-4: wunden gold … earmrēade twā ‘twisted gold … two arm-ornaments’ (Beowulf 2008, 42, 368). Despite the difference of genders, the assumption of a cognate supplies an attractive solution here.