Gyrðisk hála herðum
heldr síðarla á kveldi
glaumkennandi gunnar
glaðr véttrima* naðri.
Drengr réð dýrr á vangi
— dagr rofnaðisk — sofna
ítrs landreka undir
ógnfimr berum himni.
Glaðr glaumkennandi gunnar gyrðisk hála herðum naðri véttrima* heldr síðarla á kveldi. Dýrr ógnfimr drengr ítrs landreka réð sofna á vangi undir berum himni; dagr rofnaðisk.
The happy noise-tester of battle [WARRIOR] girded himself with the well-hardened snake of sword-rings [SWORD] rather late in the evening. The valuable, battle-deft soldier of the splendid land-ruler [= Byzantine emperor] decided to sleep in a field in the open air [lit. under the bare sky]; the day was waning.
[4] naðri véttrima* ‘snake of sword-rings’: The meaning of véttrim is obscure, but it is usually understood to refer to a metal ring either between the sword guard and the sword handle or between the pommel and the sword handle; see LP: véttrim; LT, 290. For possible etymologies see Sijmons and Gering 1903-31, III.2, 210. Naðr véttrima is clearly a kenning for ‘sword’, and Einarr’s choice of naðr ‘snake’ as the base-word may evoke the image of the sword creeping away from the man like a serpent. The emendation adopted here requires véttrima to be gen. pl., while Bb’s reading, adopted by both Skj and Skald, makes it sg.
case: dat.