Rloð Lv 8VIII (Ragn 24)/3 — máli ‘the close companion’
Hvat er, þat er baugs ór björgum
brjótr heyri ek nú þjóta,
at myni Mundils máli
mars †svandr† ófni* hafna?
Þó skal ek þeira ráða,
þorn-Bil, ef goð vilja,
æ*gir* alnar leygjar
ókvíðandi bíða.
Hvat er, þat er ek, brjótr baugs, heyri nú þjóta ór björgum, at máli Mundils myni hafna †svandr† ófni* mars? Þó skal ek, æ*gir* leygjar alnar, ókvíðandi bíða þeira ráða, ef goð vilja, þorn-Bil.
What is that which I, the breaker of a ring [GENEROUS MAN], now hear howl from the cliffs, that the close companion of Mundill <sea-king> [SEAFARER] is likely to reject … a snake of the sea [SHIP]? Nevertheless, I, the terrifier of the fire of the forearm [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN], shall without fear bring those plans to fruition if the gods wish it, clasp-Bil <goddess> [WOMAN = Áslaug-Randalín].
readings
notes
[3] máli Mundils ‘the close companion of Mundill <sea-king> [SEAFARER]’: There is no word in either ms. after Mundils which would provide a metrical l. 3, so eds have resorted to conjectural emendation to supply one. Vigfusson and Powell (CPB), Rafn (FSN) and Valdimar Ásmundarson (Ragn 1891) retain the 1824b reading mundils, without giving it a capital <M>. While no attempt is made in CPB or by Rafn to fill out the line by emendation, Valdimar adds mara f. ‘incubus, nightmare’ after mundils, thus producing the combination mundils mara ‘sea-king’s nightmare’ (?), which makes little sense in the context. Olsen (Ragn 1906-8, 211) and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emend to meiðir mundelds ‘destroyer of hand-fire [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’ and are followed in this respect by subsequent eds. This would certainly be consistent with the kennings brjótr baugs ‘breaker of a ring [GENEROUS MAN]’ in ll. 1, 2, and æ*gir* leygjar alnar ‘terrifier of the fire of the forearm [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’ in l. 7, but the context of the stanza suggests that the speaker (Ragnarr) is concerned to emphasise his seafaring capacity at least as much as his generosity, and the kenning máli Mundils ‘close companion of Mundill <sea-king> [SEAFARER]’, proposed here, seems appropriate, as well as involving relatively little emendation. The reading Mundils (gen. of Mundill, recorded as a sea-king name in Þul Sea-kings 1/5III) has moreover the support of 147, although the name does not occur elsewhere in kennings.
kennings
- máli Mundils — the close companion of Mundill <sea-king> [SEAFARER]
grammar
case: nom.