SnH Lv 6II/1 — hôvan ‘the tall’
Hrangs, þars hôvan þǫngul
heldk umb, síz fjǫr seldak;
sýnts, at sitk at Ránar;
sumir ’ró í búð með humrum.
Ljóst es lýsu at gista;
lǫnd ák út fyr strǫndu;
því sitk bleikr í brúki;
blakir mér þari of hnakka;
blakir mér þari of hnakka.
Hrangs, þars heldk umb hôvan þǫngul, síz seldak fjǫr; sýnts, at sitk at Ránar; sumir ’ró í búð með humrum. Ljóst es at gista lýsu; ák lǫnd út fyr strǫndu; því sitk bleikr í brúki; þari blakir mér of hnakka; þari blakir mér of hnakka.
There is tumult where I’m grasping the tall seaweed stalk, since I lost my life; it’s clear that I’m living at Rán’s <sea-goddess>; some share their residence with lobsters. It is light when one visits the whiting; I own land off the shore; hence I sit pale in the pile of seaweed; kelp is flapping around my neck; kelp is flapping around my neck.
readings
[1] Hrangs þars hôvan þǫngul: ‘Hrꜹng er Jafnan þars þrꜹng’ 563aˣ; hôvan: hafnan Flat
notes
[1, 2] heldk umb hôvan þǫngul ‘I grasp the tall seaweed stalk’: Kock (NN §2038) maintains that the verb halda ‘hold, grasp’ (l. 2) here has the meaning ‘dwell’ and that þǫngul (l. 1) is used collectively for ‘seaweed’ (‘I dwell among the tall seaweed’). However, halda umb e-t ‘hold the hand around sth.’ is not attested in that meaning (see Fritzner: halda um).