Hringr brast; hjoggusk drengir;
hjalmr gnast; bitu malmar;
rǫnd skar; rekkar týndusk;
ruðusk sverð; hnigu ferðir.
Brandr reið; blœddu undir;
ben sullu; spjǫr gullu;
brast hjǫrr; brynjur lestusk;
beit skjómi; dreif sveita.
Hringr brast; drengir hjoggusk; hjalmr gnast; malmar bitu; skar rǫnd; rekkar týndusk; sverð ruðusk; ferðir hnigu. Brandr reið; undir blœddu; ben sullu; spjǫr gullu; hjǫrr brast; brynjur lestusk; skjómi beit; dreif sveita.
A sword crashed; warriors exchanged blows; a helmet cracked; weapons bit; a shield-rim was cut; warriors died; swords were reddened; companies fell. A blade swung; gashes bled; wounds swelled; spears resounded; a sword crashed; byrnies were damaged; a sword bit; there was a blizzard of blood.
[1] hringr ‘a sword’: Lit. ‘ring’. This is a heiti for ‘sword’ (Þul Sverða 7/7), where the ring in the hilt of a sword is used pars pro toto for ‘sword’. Hringr is also a pers. n. Rugmann added Gladius ‘Sword’ above the word in papp25ˣ, but translated hringr brast as Arcus sonuit ‘A bow resounded’ in R683ˣ. The verb brast ‘crashed’ was likely added at some point by someone who mistook the pers. n. Hringr for the common noun (perhaps caused by hjǫrr brast ‘a sword cracked’ in l. 7 below). The original reading cannot be recovered (Jón Helgason (Hl 1941) suggests Hringr vá ‘Hringr fought’).