Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1981, Page 260

keftom at blod leypr or mvnni mer oc veit ec nv eigi hverso ydor vidr
skipti mvno fara. Nv hoggva Joeir stort )jar til er drekinn er davdr. oc er
nv madrenn lavss or mvnni drecanvm. Oc standa nv Jjessir j5rir drengir
allir saman a einom velli. (I, 196:7-199:10)
(Now when they came out of the forest, they saw something great and
wondrous. They saw a large flying dragon. It was both long and stout. It
had stout legs and claws that were both sharp and long. Its head was large
and awe-inspiring. It was flying close to the ground and wherever its
claws touched the ground, it seemed as if it struck with the sharpest piece
of iron. In its mouth it had a man whom it had swallowed, feet and legs
and all the way up to under his arms. Out of its mouth stuck the man’s
head and shoulders, while his arms were in the lower jaw. And yet the
man lived. And now, when he saw these two men riding, he called to
them: “Valiant men,” he said, “ride here and help me. This monstrous
fiend seized me as I was sleeping on my shield. But if I had been awake
and alert, then I would never have been harmed.” Now when the two
companions, Fidricr and Fasold, heard this, they jumped off their horses,
drew their swords, and both struck at the dragon at the same time, and
Fidric’s sword cut somewhat but Fasold’s not at all. Now although this
dragon was large and strong, it nevertheless found it too demanding to
carry a man in full armor, and the dragon was neither able to rise into the
air to fly, nor to defend itself as if it were free. Then the man who was in
the mouth of the dragon spoke to Fasold: “I see that your sword does not
strike home because the dragon is so hardy. Here, take the sword which
is in the dragon’s jaws; it will soonest cut what falis under its blade if a
brave man is wielding it.” Now Fasold ran forward with great valor and
reached into the jaws of the dragon and got hold of the sword, and struck
at once at the dragon. The sword did not cut worse than the sharpest
razor would a beard. Now that same man spoke again to Fasold. “Strike
carefully. My feet are quite far down in the neck of the dragon, and you
should beware that I don’t suffer wounds from my own sword - if you can
manage to do so - for it is rather sharp.” And once more he addressed the
two: “Strike now as hard as you can, valiant men, for this wicked dragon
is squeezing me so hard in its jaws, that biood spurts from my mouth, and
now I do not know how your combat will fare. Now they struck so hard
until the dragon was dead. And now the man was freed from the mouth
of the dragon. And the three valiant men stood now together on a plain.)
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