Kælan mikla [English translation]

All hailstorms finally light up1,

ice is weakening in a grip like a vice2,

because I drive cold and snowstorms away.

Pack ice, frost and wind are fighting3.

1. I was unable to find the verb “birta upp” in any Icelandic dictionary. However, I did find the meaning of the verb in Faroese (the living language closest related to Icelandic): “to light up”. I’m not sure whether this verb has a different meaning in Icelandic or not.2. According to an Icelandic to English dictionary, “heljartak” means “grip/s like a vice”. However, there was no preposition present to go with it. I did use a preposition (“in”) in my translation, though.3. The grammatical numbers of “stríðir” and what appears to be its subject don’t match, but this is probably a form of poetic language use.