Eigi sôtuð ítrum,
Ívarr, meginfjarri,
orð þás ossum fœrðak
— at sóttisk lof — dróttni.
Þérs, alls hann réð hlýða
hróðr sínn, lofi þínu
— hljóðs hefk beitt á báða
bekki — vant at hnekkja.
Ívarr, eigi sôtuð meginfjarri ítrum, þás fœrðak orð dróttni ossum; lof sóttisk at. Þérs vant at hnekkja lofi þínu, alls hann réð hlýða hróðr sínn; hefk beitt hljóðs á báða bekki.
Ívarr, you did not sit very far from the glorious one when I conveyed words to our lord; praise rushed forth. For you it is inadvisable to reject praise of yourself, since he saw fit to listen to his encomium; I have requested a hearing from both benches.
[1] ítrum ‘the glorious one’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B, followed by Jón Skaptason 1983, 191) takes this adj. to be attributive, qualifying dróttni ‘lord’, and thus meginfjarri ‘very far away’ would be used absolutely. Kock (NN §674) argues for the present interpretation of the syntax, with the substantivized adj. ítrum as a complement to prep. meginfjarri .