Akr verðk opt fyr sjúkri
eyfitja þó sitja
— rjóð es mér in mæra
menbrík — Njǫrun síka
heiðis fylgjask hauðri
(hauk tínik svá) mínu
(setrs leitandi sútar
slœgr á hverju dœgri).
Verðk þó opt sitja akr fyr sjúkri Njǫrun síka eyfitja – in mæra menbrík es mér rjóð – fylgjask mínu hauðri heiðis; tínik svá hauk, slœgr, leitandi setrs sútar á hverju dœgri.
I nonetheless often have to sit in my ploughed field [= (salr ‘hall’)] beside the sick Njǫrun <goddess> of the fishes of the island-meadows [SERPENTS (hringar ‘rings’) > WOMAN] – the excellent neck-ring-table [WOMAN] looks red to me – to be with my land of the hawk [ARM/HAND (mund ‘dowry’)]; I proclaim in this way my hawk [= (harmr ‘sorrow’)], cunning, looking for the seat of grief every day.
[7] leitandi setrs sútar ‘looking for the seat of grief’: Bibire (1988) suggests that this means ‘seeking a resting-place for sorrow’, i.e. ‘seeking sorrow’s end’ while Kock (NN §982) assumes rather that the poet is seeking the cause of the sickness. The former seems more plausible, though again close parallels are lacking.