Sætt buðu seggja dróttni
siklings vinir mikla;
svǫfðu hjaldr, þeirs hǫfðu,
hugstinnir, lið minna.
Ok snarráðir síðan
sókn, es orðum tókusk,
— ǫnd vas ýta kindum
ófǫl — búendr dvǫlðu.
Vinir siklings buðu dróttni seggja mikla sætt; hugstinnir, þeirs hǫfðu minna lið, svǫfðu hjaldr. Ok snarráðir búendr dvǫlðu síðan sókn, es tókusk orðum; ǫnd vas ófǫl kindum ýta.
The leader’s friends offered the lord of men [KING = Sveinn] a mighty settlement; the fierce-hearted ones, who had a lesser force, checked the fight. And the quick-witted farmers then prevented the attack when they began to exchange words; life was precious to the progeny of men.
[3] svǫfðu: ‘savfdv’ Hr, ‘snofðu’ FskBˣ, svæfðu FskAˣ, 39, F
[3] svǫfðu (3rd pers. pl. pret. indic.) ‘checked’: Both svefja ‘check, calm’ and svæfa ‘check, calm’ (svæfðu 3rd pers. pl. pret. indic.; so FsAˣ, 39, F) are possible in the present context, but the ms. witnesses show that the latter (svæfðu) is secondary.