Anon Mv I 23VII/7 — báli ‘the fire’
Máttr var móður dróttins
mjög ríkr um frú slíka
sýndr með sætleik reyndum
sveit í loganum heita.
Þann gaf þessi kvinnu
þrótt óskamey dróttins;
hosk sat Bil í báli
baugstalls um dag allan.
Mjög ríkr máttr móður dróttins var sýndr sveit með reyndum sætleik um slíka frú í loganum heita. Óskamey dróttins gaf þann þrótt þessi kvinnu; hosk Bil baugstalls sat í báli um allan dag.
The very mighty power of the mother of the Lord [= Mary] was revealed to the crowd with proven kindness concerning that lady in the hot flame. The wish-maiden of the Lord [= Mary] gave that fortitude to this woman; the wise Bil <goddess> of the ring-seat [ARM > WOMAN] remained in the fire all day.
readings
[7] báli: om. 721
notes
[7] í báli ‘in the fire’: The noun is missing in 721 and must be supplied from the context. Skj B suggests í báli ‘in the fire’, which is supported by the parallel construction in st. 19/7-8 above: sat í báli miðju ‘sat in the middle of the fire’. The present emendations to Bil and í báli ‘in the bonfire’ have the advantage of restoring the missing internal rhymes. Kock (Skald; NN §2867) assumes that the alliteration in ll. 7-8 is on the letter h- (hosk ‘wise’) rather than on b- (alleged scribal confusion between <b> and <h>) and he restores the ll. as follows: hosk sat brúðr í háska | haukstalds um dag allan ‘the wise bride of the warrior sat in danger all day’.