Bǫlv Hardr 2II/5 — malma ‘metal-roofed’
Hart kníði svǫl svartan
snekkju brand fyr landi
skúr, en skrautla bôru
skeiðr brynjaðar reiði.
Mætr hilmir sá malma
Miklagarðs fyr barði;
mǫrg skriðu beit at borgar
barmfǫgr hôum armi.
Svǫl skúr kníði svartan brand snekkju hart fyr landi, en brynjaðar skeiðr bôru skrautla reiði. Mætr hilmir sá malma Miklagarðs fyr barði; mǫrg barmfǫgr beit skriðu at hôum armi borgar.
The cool rain-shower drove the black prow of the warship strongly forward along the coast, and the armoured warships proudly bore their tackle. The glorious monarch saw metal-roofed Constantinople before the bow; many rim-fair ships advanced toward the tall rampart of the city.
readings
[5] malma: mála Flat
notes
[5-6] malma Miklagarðs ‘metal-roofed Constantinople’: Lit. ‘the metals of Constantinople’. Refers to the iron-covered roofs of the houses in that city (see ÍF 28, 71 n.). Skj B reads mætr hilmir Miklagarðs ‘the glorious king of Constantinople’ and sá malma fyr barði ‘saw the metal fittings on the bow’. That interpretation is tenuous, because the other sts have Haraldr as the protagonist (see NN §2035). Kock (NN §§1078, 2035) translates malma (m. acc. pl.) as ‘beaches’ and posits a meaning ‘sand’ for malmr (cf. Goth. malma ‘sand’). That meaning is not attested in ON (see Fritzner: malmr).