‘Ríkir enn at þat ormar tvennir;
missir annarr þar aldrs fyr skeyti,
en annarr mun aptr of hverfa
und skugga nafns at skǫpum vinna.
‘Ríkir enn at þat ormar tvennir; annarr missir þar aldrs fyr skeyti, en annarr mun of hverfa aptr und skugga nafns at vinna skǫpum.
‘After that two more snakes will rule; one will lose his life there to an arrow, but the other will return under the cover of a name to contend against the fates.
[2] ormar ‘snakes’: Gunnlaugr thus translates Geoffrey’s allegorical dracones ‘dragons’, which, despite appearances, are not to be equated with either the Germanic white snake or the British red snake whose hostilities are described earlier in the poem.