Bkrepp Magndr 10II/8 — véttrima ‘of hilts’
Hætt vas hvert, þats átti,
hvarf, Guðrøðar arfi;
lǫnd vann lofðungr Þrœnda
Lǫgmanni þar bannat.
Nýtr fekk nesjum útarr
naðrbings tǫpuð finginn
Egða gramr, þars umðu,
ungr, véttrima tungur.
Hvert hvarf, þats arfi Guðrøðar átti, vas hætt; lofðungr Þrœnda vann bannat Lǫgmanni lǫnd þar. Nýtr ungr gramr Egða fekk finginn tǫpuð naðrbings útarr nesjum, þars tungur véttrima umðu.
Every hiding place that Guðrøðr’s heir [= Lǫgmaðr] had was hazardous; the ruler of the Þrœndir [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús] refused Lǫgmaðr lands there. The bountiful young lord of the Egðir [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús] captured the destroyer of the snake-lair [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] off the headlands, where tongues of hilts [SWORDS] were wailing.
notes
[8] véttrima ‘of hilts’: Véttrim must have been a part of the sword, and Falk (1914, 28-9) suggests that it could have been a metal plate on the sword-hilt. Vétt (n.) is an oval lid on a chest, and rim a pole, post, or the upper plank on a ship’s railing. LP: véttrim takes the first part of the cpd as vétt ‘weight’ (f.) and supplies the translation tynd stang, rim, til at løfte med ‘thin pole, rim, to lift [sth.] with’. According to that interpretation, véttrim was a part of the sword-blade close to the sword point, which makes little sense in the present kenning. See also ESk Geisl 47/4VII, in which naðr véttrima, translated as ‘the snake of sword-rings’, is a kenning for ‘sword’, which also refutes the LP interpretation.
kennings
- tungur véttrima — tongues of hilts [SWORDS]