Því hefk heitit mey mætri,
mest nema hamlan bresti.
Hefk heitit mætri mey því, nema mest hamlan bresti.
I have promised the excellent girl that, unless the greatest obstacle fails.
[2] nema mest hamlan bresti ‘unless the greatest obstacle fails’: Mest ‘greatest’ here is taken as strong f. nom. adj. with hamlan ‘the obstacle’ (so SnE 1848-87, TGT 1884 and Skj B). The meaning is unclear and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) puts an elipsis between mest hamlan and bresti. Later (TGT 1927, 96-7) he takes mest as an adv. belonging to the first clause, which leads to the following interpretation: Hefk heitit mest mætri mey því, nema hamlan bresti ‘I have mostly promised the excellent maiden that, unless the obstacle fails’.