Duga mun hugr ok hjarta
í hugsnöru brjósti,
þó at miðr um þat mæli,
manni innan rifja.
Eigi er oss í augum
ormr né fránir snákar;
bræðr gæddu mik mínir;
man ek stjúpsonu þína.
Hugr mun duga manni ok hjarta innan rifja í hugsnöru brjósti, þó at mæli miðr um þat. Ormr er oss eigi í augum né fránir snákar; bræðr mínir gæddu mik; ek man stjúpsonu þína.
Courage will serve a man well, as will a heart within the ribs in a courage-swift breast, even though he may speak rather little about it. There is no snake in our eyes, nor glittering serpents; my brothers enriched me; I remember your stepsons.
[7] bræðr: ‘br[…]dur’ 147
[7] bræðr mínir ‘my brothers’: The reference here is to Bjǫrn’s half-brothers, Eiríkr and Agnarr, the sons of Ragnarr by Þóra and the stjúpsynir ‘stepsons’ of Áslaug referred to in the next line. In reporting the deaths of Eiríkr and Agnarr to her sons by Ragnarr in the prose of Ragn, Áslaug had earlier referred to Fall þeirra Eiriks ok Agnars, bredra ydara, enn stiupsona minna ‘The fall of Eiríkr and Agnarr, your brothers and my stepsons’ (Ragn 1906-8, 143, ll. 3-5); cf. the Notes to 16/1-4 (f) and 18/8 above.