Note 289 — SECTION IX. CATALOGUE-RAISONNÉ OF MODERN TRAVELS IN ICELAND—PREPARATIONS FOR TRAVEL.
Reading edition
Forn-yrði, an old word, an archaism; hence Eddaic verse. We may illustrate its alliteration by Peirce Plowman:
“I looked on my left half As the Lady me taught, And was ware of a woman Worthlyith clothed.”
Finn Magnússon and Rask thus converted Virgil into narrative verse:
“Arma virumque Cano, Trojæ Qui primus ab oris Italiam, Fato profugus, Lavinaque venit Littora,” etc.