Hrannir strýkva hlaðinn bekk;
haflauðr skeflir;
kasta náir kjalar stíg
kalt hlýr sǫltum.
Svǫrtum hleypir svana fjǫll
snjallmæltr stillir
hlunna of Haka veg
hríðfeld skíðum.
Hrannir strýkva hlaðinn bekk; haflauðr skeflir; kalt hlýr náir kasta sǫltum stíg kjalar. Snjallmæltr stillir hleypir svǫrtum skíðum hlunna hríðfeld fjǫll svana of veg Haka.
Waves stroke the loaded ship; sea-foam piles up breakers; the cold prow throws aside the salty path of the keel [SEA]. The wise-spoken ruler makes the black skis of rollers [SHIPS] run along the stormy mountains of swans [WAVES] across the road of Haki <sea-king> [SEA].
[1] bekk: borð W
[1] bekk ‘ship’: Lit. ‘bench’. Taken here as pars pro toto for ‘ship’ (see LP: 2. bekkr 2; Falk 1912, 87; Meissner 96). Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, Skj B and Skald adopt the W variant hlaðin borð ‘stacked boards’ to avoid an apparent skothending (-ýk- : ‑ekk).