Þá frák manna meinúðgasta,
ógjarnasta gott at vinna.
Þeir berserkir, böls um fyldir,
tvau skip hruðu tryggra manna.
Frák þá meinúðgasta manna, ógjarnasta at vinna gott. Þeir berserkir, um fyldir böls, hruðu tvau skip tryggra manna.
I have heard them [to be] the most evil-minded of men, most un-eager to do good. Those berserks, filled with enmity, cleared two ships of trusty men.
[5] Þeir berserkir: þeir eru berserks 343a, 471, þeir eru af berserks 173ˣ
[5] þeir berserkir ‘those berserks’: Understood as the idiom þeir plus a collective noun meaning ‘group of’, ‘band of’. Skj B prefers to add the verb eru in the reduced form ro, þeir ro berserkir ‘they are berserks’, following the younger mss, but this does not seem necessary. Edd. Min. deletes þeir and reads er berserkir.