Runnu ríkamanni
reiðimál og eiðar;
beiðir giekk við brúðar
borða hverju orði.
Lýsti ljúfliga ástir
lundur silkigrundar
auðs, og unni síðan
ágætt víf sem lífi.
Reiðimál og eiðar runnu ríkamanni; beiðir borða giekk við hverju orði brúðar. Lundur auðs lýsti ljúfliga ástir silkigrundar, og ágætt víf unni síðan sem lífi.
The wrathful speech and the oaths left the powerful man; the demander of shields [WARRIOR] admitted to the woman’s every word. The tree of wealth [MAN] fondly declared love [lit. loves] for the silk-ground [WOMAN], and the famous lady later loved [him] like her own life.
[7] unni (3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘loved’: Unna ‘love’ takes the dat., and the object ‘him’ is understood. It may seem incongruous that the woman should love the man who had rejected her; rather, we should expect her to be the object of his affections. However, ágætt víf ‘famous lady’ is in the nom. or acc., so such an interpretation is impossible. Skald emends ágætt víf to ágæts vífs (n. gen. sg.) ‘of the famous female’ and treats it as a parallel construction to silkigrundar ‘of the silk-ground [WOMAN]’ (l. 6).