Can anyone help me with this riddle? It's from Hervarar saga. It's
the last part that's puzzling me: en þess fegri er færa of sér (I
believe the 'at' has been added by the editor). I'm just not sure
how this sentence works.
37. Meyjar ek sá Maidens I saw
moldu líkar, [much] like soil,
váru þeim at beðjum björg, boulders were beds to them;
svartar ok sámar sable and swarthy
í sólviðri, in sunny weather
en þess [at] fegri, but.....fairer
er færa of sér. ........themselves?
The answer: Góð er gáta þín. Þat eru glæðr fölnaðar á arni "Your
riddle is good. Those are embers [gledes] faded on the hearth."
(It's "faded" rather than "become lighter" in the sense of brighter,
isn't it? Fritzner has the word in a quote associated with
fölskaðr "turned to ash".)
Llama Nom
PS.
Some pictures of hearths which explain the reference to rocks (extra
cryptic because it might also suggest cliffs):