³⁵ It was not considered beneath their dignity for the highborn to take a hand at the oars.

³⁶ Kenning for “boat.”

³⁷ The Germanic equivalent for “burning one’s bridges behind one.” They do not expect to return. Compare with the similar situation in the Nibelungenlied where Hagene destroys the boat on which the host has been ferried across the Danube.

³⁸ He is dead. See Sts. 50 and 90.

³⁹ The Vðlsunga saga here has a passage in which Atli demands the Niflung treasure, which Gunnar defiantly refuses. In the Nibelungenlied it is Kriemhild who makes the demand at this point.