ÍvRagn Lv 1VIII (Ragn 22)/6 — verða ‘have to’
Hafið ofrhuga ærinn
ok áræði bæði;
þess mundi þá þurfa,
at þrá mikit fylgði.
Bera munuð mik fyr bragna
beinlausan fram verða;
þó á* ek hönd til hefnda,
at ek hváriga nýta.
Hafið bæði ærinn ofrhuga ok áræði; þess mundi þá þurfa, at mikit þrá fylgði. Munuð verða bera mik beinlausan fram fyr bragna; þó á* ek hönd til hefnda, at ek nýta hváriga.
You have both sufficient foolhardiness and daring; this would then be needed, that great perseverance should accompany [them]. You will have to carry me, boneless, before the men; I’ll have a hand in the pursuit of vengeance, even though I use neither of them.
notes
[5, 6] munuð verða bera mik … ‘you (pl.) will have to carry me’: There is no need to follow CPB, Ragn 1906-8, Skj B, Skald, Ragn 1891, Ragn 1944, FSGJ and Ragn 2003 in adopting here the Hb reading man (normalised in these eds to mun), which, as a 3rd pers. sg. form, would involve taking the construction as impersonal (‘I will have to be carried’); the 2nd pers. pl. indic. munuð ‘you (pl.) will’ (retained by Rafn, FSN, and by Örnólfur Thorsson) gives perfectly good sense in the context, and is no less acceptable metrically.