Knútr sásk, — herr hjósk —
hlífð gnast, rǫnd brast,
— guðr svall — folk fell,
fátt, mart, hvít*, svǫrt.
Bargsk ǫld, (beit skjǫld
benskóð) rann þjóð,
hvasst flugu hjalmreyr
hó, lôg (breið) mjó.
Knútr sásk fátt; herr hjósk; hvít* hlífð gnast; svǫrt rǫnd brast; guðr svall; mart folk fell. Hó ǫld bargsk; breið benskóð beit skjǫld; lôg þjóð rann; mjó hjalmreyr flugu hvasst.
Knútr feared little; the army exchanged blows; the white shield cracked; the black shield-rim crashed; battle increased; many men fell. Noble people saved themselves; the broad wound-weapon [SWORD] bit the shield; ignoble people ran; slender helmet-reeds [ARROWS] flew violently.
[4] hvít*: hvítt papp25ˣ, R683ˣ
[4] hvít* (f. nom. sg.) ‘white’: Hvítt (n. nom. or acc. sg.) ‘white’ has been emended to hvít (f. nom. sg.) because the adj. qualifies hlífð (f. nom. sg.) ‘shield’ (l. 2). For the possible spelling <tt> for <t> in final position, see Note to st. 39/8.