Eyv Lv 11I/4 — byr ‘wind’
Skyldak, skerja foldar
skíðrennandi, síðan
þursa týs frá þvísa
þinn góðan byr finna,
es, valjarðar, verðum,
veljandi, þér selja
lyngva mens, þats lengi,
látr, minn faðir átti.
Skerja foldar skíðrennandi, skyldak síðan frá þvísa finna þinn góðan byr týs þursa, es, veljandi valjarðar, verðum selja þér látr mens lyngva, þats faðir minn átti lengi.
Runner of the ski of the land of skerries [(lit. ‘ski-runner of the land of skerries’) SEA > SHIP > SEAFARER], I should from this time on meet with your good wind of the bondwoman of giants [GIANTESS > THOUGHT], when, chooser of the battlefield [RULER], we [I] have to give you the resting-place of the necklace of heathers [SNAKE > GOLD] which my father long owned.
readings
[4] byr: ‘bur’ Bb
notes
[3, 4] góðan byr týs þursa ‘good wind of the bondwoman of giants [GIANTESS > THOUGHT]’: Eyvindr hopes that he will now stand in the king’s good grace, having given up his gold to him. Although this kenning pattern is well-attested, its rationale and aetiology are not precisely understood (see SnE 1998, I, 108; Meissner 138-9; Frank 1997, and references there). The determinant týs, probably meaning ‘bondwoman’, ‘concubine’ or ‘enslaved sexual partner’, is obscure and clearly caused confusion in transmission (cf. Hkr 1893-1901, IV; LP: tý; NN §1041D; Olsen 1959, 101).
kennings
- þinn góðan byr týs þursa, — your good wind of the bondwoman of giants, [THOUGHT]
grammar
case: acc.