Vas Óláfr
alls at landi
fimm at eins
faðmis galla,
áðr Eirekr
með ofrliði
ræsi þann
rómu beiddi.
Óláfr vas at landi alls at eins fimm galla faðmis, áðr Eirekr, með ofrliði, beiddi þann ræsi rómu.
Óláfr was [king] in the country altogether only five destructions of the snake [WINTERS] before Eiríkr, with an overwhelming host, offered that ruler battle.
[4] faðmis: ‘fadmnis’ or ‘fadmins’ Flat
[4] faðmis (m. gen. sg.) ‘snake’: Skj B and Skald emend ‘fadmnis’ (or ‘fadmins’; the word is difficult to read) to Fáfnis ‘Fáfnir’s’, i.e. the snake killed by Sigurðr the Dragon-slayer (see Fáfn in NK 180-8). In LP (faðmins) Finnur Jónsson regards ‘faðmins’ as a scribal error for faðmnis (gen. of faðmnir). Fáfnir and faðmir are variant forms of Proto-Scandinavian *faðmnir ‘snake’ (lit. ‘the one who encloses’; see AEW: faðmr), and the variant form faðmir also occurs in Háttalykill (RvHbreiðm Hl 7/3III and 47/3III).