Aldri bǫrðusk afli stœrðir
(ógnsveipanda) blóðgum greipum
(hirð sótti þar hvǫss at garði)
harrar tveir af drengskap meira.
Undan reið, sás fremstr vas fundinn,
fyrða gramr, at jǫfnum byrðum;
Sverris ætt fekk sigr at réttu;
svá vildi guð framiðr mildi.
Aldri bǫrðusk tveir harrar, blóðgum greipum, stœrðir afli, af meira drengskap; hvǫss hirð ógnsveipanda sótti þar at garði. Gramr fyrða, sás vas fundinn fremstr at jǫfnum byrðum, reið undan; ætt Sverris fekk sigr at réttu; guð, framiðr mildi, vildi svá.
Never have two lords, with bloody hands, empowered with strength, fought with more bravery; the fierce retinue of the terror-spreader [WARRIOR = Hákon] attacked there at the churchyard. The leader of the people [RULER = Skúli], who was found to be foremost among those of equal birth, rode away; Sverrir’s descendant [= Hákon] rightly won victory; God, excellent in mercy, willed it so.
[7] Sverris: ‘sueriss’ 81a
[7] ætt Sverris ‘Sverrir’s descendant [= Hákon]’: The word ætt in skaldic poetry may signify ‘family member’ or more specifically ‘descendant’ (see LP: ætt), whereas in prose it generally denotes ‘family’. The Sverrir mentioned in the circumlocution ætt Sverris ‘Sverrir’s descendant [= Hákon]’ is Hákon’s paternal grandfather, King Sverrir Sigurðarson (d. 1202).