[6] frest urðu þess ‘there was delay in this’: I.e. in the fulfilment of Knútr’s promise of land. Frest is n. pl., hence the pl. verb urðu, lit. ‘were, came about’. Hkr 1893-1901, Skj B and Skald emend urðu to urðut, giving the opposite meaning ‘there was no delay in this’, in order to avoid the contradiction with the stanza’s statement that Kálfr did receive gifts from the king (see Hkr 1893-1901, IV). But the original reading could express an ironically understated comment that the king’s promises never materialised, or simply that conditions had to be met before the promised lands were handed over.