EirRagn Lv 3VIII (Ragn 13)/1 — efra ‘land’
Bera skuluð orð it efra,
— nú eru órir firar lagðir —
at mær hafi mína
mjó, Áslaugu, bauga.
Þá mun mest af móði,
er mik spyrja dauðan,
mín stjúpmóðir mildum
mögum sínum til segja.
Nú eru firar órir lagðir; skuluð bera orð Áslaugu it efra, at mjó mær hafi bauga mína. Þá mun stjúpmóðir mín segja mildum mögum sínum til, mest af móði, er mik spyrja dauðan.
Now our men are laid low; you are to bring word to Áslaug by land that a slender maiden may have my rings. Then, when they hear that I am dead, my stepmother will tell her generous sons about it, in the greatest grief.
notes
[1] it efra ‘by land’: Here the comp. adj. efra, preceded by the def. art., is to be taken as n. acc. sg. and adverbial, meaning ‘by the upper route’ i.e., by land, with land thought of as above sea level. The present ed. follows Edzardi (1855-80, III, 277), Finnur Jónsson (Hb 1892-6; Skj B), Olsen (Ragn 1906-8, 205) and Herrmann (1923b, 164), in understanding the phrase this way. There is no ms. authority for CPB ’s replacement of either þau, pl., with þat, sg., or the comp. efra with sup. œfsta.