ESk Geisl 53VII/3 — hryggs ‘of the sorrowful’
Myndi mest und fjǫndum
Miklagarðr ok jarðir
(hryggs dugði lið) liggja
(lagar eldbrota) veldi,
nema rǫnd í byr branda
(barðraukns) fáir harða
(rǫðuls bliku vôpn í veðri)
Væringjar framm bæri.
Mest veldi, Miklagarðr ok jarðir, myndi liggja und fjǫndum — lið hryggs lagar eldbrota dugði —, nema harða fáir Væringjar bæri rǫnd framm í byr branda; vôpn bliku í veðri rǫðuls barðraukns.
Most of the kingdom, Constantinople and the territories, would have lain under enemies — the army of the sorrowful breaker of the flame of the sea [(lit. ‘sorrowful flame-breaker of the sea’) GOLD > GENEROUS RULER = Byzantine king] did well —, except that a very few Varangians pushed [their] shields forward in the fair breeze of swords [BATTLE]; weapons gleamed in the storm of the sun of the prow-ox [SHIP > SHIELD > BATTLE].
notes
[3-4] lið hryggs lagar eldbrota dugði ‘the army of the sorrowful flame-breaker of the sea did well’: The reference is probably to the Byzantine army and its leader. The structure of this intercalary cl. follows Skald and NN §944 rather than Skj B, which fragments l. 3 syntactically. However, both Skj B and Skald adopt Bb’s dugðit ‘did not do well’, with suffixed negative, rather than the positive 3rd pers. sg. pret. of Flat. Both readings are possible, and it could be argued that Bb’s is better on grounds of sense, viz. the Byzantine army did not do well but was saved by the brave Varangians.
kennings
- hryggs lagar eldbrota — of the sorrowful breaker of the flame of the sea [GENEROUS RULER = Byzantine king]