Sigoa Lv 1VIII (Ragn 19)/7 — ef ‘if’
(Þat) skal þriggja nátta
(ef þik tregar, móðir)
— leið eigu vér langa —
leiðangr búinn verða.
Skal Uppsölum eigi,
þó at ófafé bjóði,
ef oss duga eggjar,
Eysteinn konungr ráða.
Leiðangr skal verða búinn þriggja nátta, ef þat tregar þik, móðir; eigu vér langa leið. Eysteinn konungr skal eigi ráða Uppsölum, þó at bjóði ófafé, ef eggjar duga oss.
An expedition will be prepared within three nights, if that is what is causing you grief, mother; we have a long way to go. King Eysteinn will not rule Uppsala, though he may offer excessive payment, if sword-blades serve us well.
readings
[7] ef oss duga eggjar: so Hb, ef svá duga dísir 1824b, ‘(ef […]ss du)ga eggiar’(?) 147
notes
[7] ef eggjar duga oss ‘if sword-blades serve us well’: The reading of Hb and 147, which is to be preferred over that of 1824b, ef svá duga dísir ‘if the dísir will lend support thus’, because it provides vocalic alliteration with the first syllable of Eysteinn, the head-stave in l. 8. There is no alliteration linking ll. 7-8 of 1824b. Most other eds adopt the Hb reading, with the exception of FSN, CPB (both with 1824b’s text), Ragn 1891 and Ragn 1985, the last two of whom read ef svá duga eggjar ‘if sword-blades avail’.