[5-8]: The helmingr is apparently corrupt and emendations unavoidable. (a) The text and translation above adopt the minor emendations of ms. fýstr (m. nom. sg.) to fýst (f. nom. sg.) ‘eager’ and of arfþegi (m. nom. sg.) to arfþega (m. gen./dat. sg.) ‘heir’ as in Skj B. (b) A solution retaining the grammatical concord of fýstr arfþegi ‘eager heir’ and avoiding emendations to those two words is possible if it is assumed that vas ‘was’ (emended from ms. ‘va’ by all eds) in l. 7 functions in two clauses, hirð vas hrygg at morði hans ‘the retinue was desolate at his killing’ and arfþegi Tryggva vas fýstr gǫndlar ‘the heir of Tryggvi was eager for battle’. An understood vas ‘was’ would be paralleled in st. 17/7. (c) Kock (NN §1186) also retains fýstr, assuming that it qualifies the ek ‘I’ of lýstak ‘I described’, referring to the skald, but it would be exceptional for Hallar-Steinn to refer to his own valour in this way.