Anon Gyð 1VII/3 — hyr ‘of the fire’
Aldýran biðk óra
orðfæri guð stæra,
en hyrmeiðar hlýði
haukstiettar brag sliettan.
Ágæta vilk ítrum
ulfsfæðendum ræðu
— víst og vífs ins hæsta
vegr guðs er það — segja.
Biðk aldýran guð stæra óra orðfæri, en haukstiettar hyrmeiðar hlýði sliettan brag. Vilk segja ítrum ulfsfæðendum ágæta ræðu; það er víst guðs vegr og ins hæsta vífs.
I ask altogether precious God to strengthen our [my] eloquence and that the trees of the fire of the hawk’s path [(lit. ‘fire-trees of the hawk’s path’) ARM > GOLD > MEN] may listen to the smooth poem. I want to tell noble wolf-feeders [WARRIORS] an excellent tale; that is certainly God’s glory and that of the highest woman [i.e. Virgin Mary].
readings
[3] hyrmeiðar: so 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘[...]yrmeidar’ B
notes
[3, 4] haukstiettar hyrmeiðar ‘fire-trees of the hawk’s path [ARM > GOLD > MEN]’: B is torn at this point, and only ‘h…stettar’ is certain. The 399a-bˣ copyist was able to read ‘hagstettar’ with certainty, although this is likely to be corrupt. Finnur Jónsson, followed by Kock, reconstructs to hafstéttar, which they take as gen. sg. of hafstétt, f., ‘sea-path’. Finnur construes this with hyrmeiðar ‘fire-trees’ to give the man-kenning hyrmeiðar hafstéttar ‘the trees of the fire of the path of the sea [SEA > GOLD > MEN]’. As a sea-kenning, however, hafstétt is tautologous and, indeed, no parallel or similar expressions are listed in LP. This edn follows Rydberg in adopting Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s suggestion (note to 444ˣ) that hagstéttar be treated as an error for haugstéttar, which normalises to haukstiettar, gen. sing. of f. haukstiett ‘hawk-path’, a kenning for the arm or hand. Although haukstiett is not itself attested elsewhere, there are several arm-kennings on the ‘land, path, way of the hawk’ model (see LP, 231-2; Meissner, 139).
kennings
- haukstiettar hyr — of the fire of the hawk’s path [GOLD]
- haukstiettar hyrmeiðar — the trees of the fire of the hawk’s path [MEN]