Verses by Earl Rögnvald Kali
(iii) Rögnvald in Palestine
Þeir Rögnvaldr jarl fóru þá ór Akrsborg ok sóttu alla hina helgustu
They (and) Earl Rögnvald sailed then out of Acre and visited all the
most holy
staði á Jórsalalandi. Þeir fóru allir til Jórðánar ok lauguðusk þar.
places in Jerusalem. They all sailed to Jordan and entered (or maybe
bathed) there.
Þeir Rögnvald jarl ok Sigmundr Öngull lögðusk yfir ána ok gengu þar á
They (and) Earl Rögnvaldr and Sigmund Öngull swam across ? and went there on
land, ok þangat til sem var hrískjörr nökkur, ok riðu þar knúta stóra.
land and to that place as was any brushwood thicket and knit there a
great knot.???
Þá kvað jarl: 'Ek hefi lagða lykkju (leiðar þvengs) of heiði (snotr
Then spoke (the) earl, “ I have placed a loop (thong of the road =
serpent according to Gordon) around heather ( wise
minnisk þess svanni sút), fyr Jórðán útan; en hykk at þó þykki
þangat
reminds of lady sickness???) sail to Jordan, but attend to though it
seemed thither
langt at ganga (blóð fell varmt á víðan völl) heimdrögum öllum.'
long to go (blood fell warm on wide field) all the stay-at-homes.”
After the first three lines, I have no idea what is going on or what he
is talking about. I looked at the English translation after I had a
shot at it and the English translation makes no sense either. So likely
I have translated it half-way right.
Grace