EirRagn Lv 4VIII (Ragn 14)/7 — egðis ‘of the wolf’
Hlakkar hrafn of höfði
hér mínu nú sýnu;
krefr unda valr augna
ósynju hér minna.
Veiztu, ef hrafn ór höfði
høggr brúnsteina mína,
launar unda valr egðis
illa marga fylli.
Sýnu hlakkar nú hrafn hér of höfði mínu; hér krefr valr unda ósynju augna minna. Veiztu, ef hrafn høggr brúnsteina mína ór höfði, launar valr unda illa marga fylli egðis.
A raven is now clearly shrieking here above my head; the falcon of wounds [RAVEN] is here at an ill-fated hour claiming my eyes. You know, if a raven hacks my brow-stones [EYES] from my head, the falcon of wounds [RAVEN] will be paying a poor reward for many a full meal of the wolf [CORPSE].
readings
[7] egðis: ‘ekils’ 1824b
notes
[7, 8] marga fylli egðis ‘many a full meal of the wolf [CORPSE]’: The ms. reading ‘ekils’ (gen. sg. of *ekill ‘driver’?) has been emended to Ekkils (from Ekkill, name of a sea-king, Þul Sækonunga 2/3III) by earlier eds, except for CPB, Skj B and Skald. Olsen (Ragn 1906-8, 205) regards Ekkils as a subjective gen. (NS §124), combining with marga fylli (l. 8) to give the sense ‘many a full meal of (i.e. provided by) Ekkill’, but this is unconvincing, given the connection of sea-king names with kennings for ships and the sea rather than, as seems probable here, with the activities of ravens in connection with carnage. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends ‘ekils’ to ýti, dat. sg. of ýtir ‘pusher’, taking it as dat. object of launar (l. 7) with hrafn (l. 5) as subject, thus: ‘it (the raven) rewards the pusher of the wave-horse [SHIP > SEAFARER] (i.e. me, Eiríkr) poorly for many a full meal’. Kock (Skald) supplies eggi, dat. sg. of the unrecorded *eggir ‘egger on, encourager’ in place of ýti, otherwise letting it have the same meaning and place in the sentence as Finnur. The present ed. proposes the emendation of ‘ekils’ to egðis ‘of the eagle’ (see Þul Ara 1/5III) or ‘of the wolf’ (see Þul Vargs 1/9III), cf. LP: egðir 2. The latter meaning is probably preferable in the context, given the heavy emphasis in this stanza on a bird of battle in the form of a raven. Thus: ‘the falcon of wounds [RAVEN] will be paying a poor reward for many a full meal of the wolf [CORPSE]’. The many corpses are to be understood as having been served up by Eiríkr, the speaker of the stanza, as food for beasts of battle in the course of his warlike career.
kennings
- marga fylli egðis. — for many a full meal of the wolf. [CORPSE]