Undraz tók inn forni fjandi
fæddan mann, er skilja var bannað,
og þvílíkt, sem andinn segði
orðin slík af tungu forðum:
‘Þykki mier, sem nýjung nökkur
nálgiz heim og ættir beima;
eitthvað klókt mun drottinn dikta:
duldr em eg, því að ferr af huldu.
Inn forni fjandi tók undraz fæddan mann, er var bannað skilja, og þvílíkt sem andinn segði slík orðin af tungu forðum: ‘Mier þykki, sem nökkur nýjung nálgiz heim og ættir beima; drottinn mun dikta eitthvað klókt; eg em duldr, því að ferr af huldu.
The old fiend was amazed at the newborn man, whom he was prohibited from understanding, and it was as if the spirit spoke words like these with his tongue long ago: ‘It seems to me that some new thing draws near to the world and families of men [MANKIND]; the Lord will be devising something clever; I am ignorant, because it is being kept secret.
[7] dikta ‘to create, devise’: The word has many connotations, from the base meaning ‘compose, formulate in writing’ to ‘create, bring forth’, with specific reference to God’s act of creation. See ONP for examples. Here, the situation is ironic: Lucifer uses the word sarcastically with negative connotations, and he is unaware of the truth of his statement and its implications. The phrase dikta eitthvat klókt ‘devise something clever’ may cast light on the poet’s opinion of traditional skaldic poetry expressed in st. 4.