Arn Þorfdr 8II/2 — spjótum ‘with spears’
Þrima vas þvígit skemmri;
þat vas skjótt, at spjótum
mætr við minna neyti
minn dróttinn rak flótta.
Gall, áðr grams menn fellu,
gunnmôr of her sôrum;
hann vá sigr fyr sunnan
Sandvík; ruðu branda.
Þrima vas þvígit skemmri; þat vas skjótt, at mætr dróttinn minn rak flótta spjótum við minna neyti. Gunnmôr gall of sôrum her, áðr menn grams fellu; hann vá sigr fyr sunnan Sandvík; ruðu branda.
The battle was none the briefer for that; it happened swiftly that my precious lord put them to flight with spears [and] with a smaller company. The battle-gull [RAVEN/EAGLE] screamed above the wounded host, before the ruler’s men fell; he won victory south of Sandwick (Sandvík); they reddened swords.
notes
[2] spjótum ‘with spears’: (a) This is construed above with the cl. rak flótta in which it is embedded, hence ‘put (them) to flight with spears’. (b) The alternative is to take it with þrima vas þvígit skemmri ‘the battle was none the briefer’ (l. 1) (so Björn Magnússon Ólsen 1909a, 296). This analysis entails the separation of at ‘that’ from the cl. it introduces, and, although it might explain þvígit skemmri (‘the battle was none the briefer with spears’, i.e. ‘for all the number of spears’), it does not explain how, after a long battle, Þorfinnr ‘swiftly’ routed his enemies.