Ek sá fljúga fugla marga:
aldrtjón Ellu, eggdauða menn,
ben bíldskorna, buðlung Dana,
þjónustumey, þunga báru.
Ek sá marga fugla fljúga: aldrtjón Ellu, eggdauða menn, bíldskorna ben, buðlung Dana, þjónustumey, þunga báru.
I saw many birds fly: life-loss of Ælla <Northumbrian king>, men killed by the sword, lancet-scored wound, king of Danes, serving-girl, heavy wave.
[5] bíldskorna ben ‘lancet-scored wound’: The procedure of blood-letting is called æða-blóð (CVC), the homonym æðr being both ‘blood-vessel’ and ‘eider duck’. Cf. Gestumbl Heiðr 35/3VIII (Heiðr 82) and Anon (FoGT) 20/5, which rely on the same pun on æðr, and Notes there. Bíldskorinn ‘lancet-scored’ is a hap. leg.