5. hraunhvala "lava-whales", i.e. giants, since whales are "giants of the ocean". Cp. hraunbúi "lava-dweller" in stanza 38, and see comments on hreysi (stanza 35). Although unique, such a kenning is quite at home in a poem where a giant goes fishing for whales. Cp. also the giant-kenning gljúfr-skeljungr "ravine-whale" (in a helmingr by Gamli, quoted in Skáldskaparmál, # 49).

The R reading hraunvala can hardly be correct. Hraun-Valir "lava-Welshmen" is imaginable (cp. berg-Danir "cliff-Danes"), but there is no evidence for a plural nom. *Valar, or an acc. *Vala (instead of the attested Valir, Vali).

Translation notes: Larrington translates hraunhvala as "mountain monsters" for no apparent reason.. Perhaps she got the idea from Bray: "and the monsters all from the mountains slew".