Opt með œrnri giptu
ǫðlings himins rǫðla
Jóta gramr inn ítri
Englandi rauð branda.
Inn ítri gramr Jóta rauð branda opt Englandi með œrnri giptu ǫðlings rǫðla himins.
The splendid ruler of the Jótar [DANISH KING = Sveinn] reddened blades often in England with ample luck of the Lord of the discs of the sky [HEAVENLY BODIES > = God].
[4] Englandi: á Englandi 4867ˣ, 563aˣ
[4] Englandi ‘in England’: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle’s first mention of Sveinn raiding in England is in 994 (ASC ‘E’, ‘F’, s. a.), while Þorleifr was apparently killed in Iceland by agents of Hákon jarl, who died c. 995. This chronology renders Þorleifr’s authorship of the present stanza somewhat unlikely, though it has been argued that Sveinn took part in an earlier attack on English soil c. 991 (ÍF 9, xcvii; Sawyer 1993, 41), and it could be this which is referred to here.