versions have skre instead of strok. skre is O.N. skreið, the past tense of skriða, vb., to creep; slide; glide, etc. Here the meaning is — (he) let his hand glide, i.e. stroked.
In line 2, gɛ‘msma is gemsanda, pres. part. gen. pl. of O.N. gemsa, vb., to gibe; scoff; behave wantonly.
Line 3 shows how one and the same line can appear very different in the different versions, thus: a) bit ødelog i de øra and b) maina log i de hoira hand.
Line 5: a’ mi keljaka is an older “allr mínn kærleiki”, or (in accus.) “allan mínn kærleika”, i.e. all my love.
Line 6: molhus. O.N. málhús, literally — “speech-house,” — a periphrasis for “mouth”. min søda: “my sweet!” (In this verse several parts of the body are referred to by periphrasis.)
Line 7: “fae” is L.Scottish f(r)ae = from. milk-fad is O.N. mjólkfat, milk-vat.
Line 8: dravgad possibly denotes the stick with which malt is stirred in mashing. O.N. draf, n., draff, and O.N. gaddr, m., goad; spike, etc. L.Scottish gaud = gad, sb., a goad, pointed stick.
Line 9: gløen vi (O.N. glóandi viðr), “glowing wood” (firewood).
Line 10: kniknan knak: is possibly “crushed (or broken) krak” (a three-legged stool); No. knakk, id.
The rest is unintelligible, though in the variant versions a few words and phrases may be explained; variant b, line 3: stakk, here probably = O.N. stakkr, m., skirt and bodice in one. feldin (felta) gro (groa): the grey fur overcoat (cape), O.N. feldinn grá (accus.).
fuden gua: the good foot, O.N. fótinn góða (accus.).
A corresponding rigmarole “þula”, is found in Icelandic, beginning:
Hann tók upp og hann tók niðr, og svo tók hann á frúinni.
In this rigmarole, as in the Shetland fragment, occurs “málhús” as a periphrasis for mouth.
The following folk-verse, originating from Conn. and dictated by R. Cogle, is supposed to be a charm with which to drive away lung-disease from cattle.
Æŋgə båŋgə lô̄ra
bæl skola rina
bæl skola bēti
ândru wɩstras
güd to bid to bræ̆ti
gitᶊə gitᶊə gåŋgi
bitᶊə bitᶊə bēti.
Here several different things seem to have run together.
The last line is probably part of a lullaby. Bitse, bitse can be explained as No. biss(a), biss(a) = hush-a-bye, and accordingly the same
