Brennum ǫll fyr innan
inni, þaus vér finnum,
(land tegask herr með hjǫrvi)
Hverbjǫrg (fyr gram verja).
Ýs (hafi allra húsa
Innþrœndir kol sinna)
angr skal kveykt í klungri,
(kǫld) ef ek má valda.
Brennum ǫll inni fyr innan Hverbjǫrg, þaus vér finnum; herr tegask verja land fyr gram með hjǫrvi. Innþrœndir hafi kǫld kol allra húsa sinna; angr ýs skal kveykt í klungri, ef ek má valda.
Let’s burn all the dwellings inside Hverbjǫrg that we find; the people show themselves ready to defend the land against the king with the sword. Let the Innþrœndir have the cold coals of all their houses; the sorrow of the yew [FIRE] shall be ignited in the thorns, if I can have my way.
[8] ef: er DG8
[8] ef ek má valda ‘if I can have my way’: Previous eds have generally construed this, as here, with the second of the two clauses in the second helmingr, though it seems to make little sense for the poet to say so emphatically that he wishes to burn down thorns, and Finnur Jónsson (1932-3, 72) later changed his mind and took the ef-clause with the taki-clause. Possibly klungri ‘thorns’ had some specific sense more related to settlements, such as ‘enclosure’, or else a figurative sense relating to the throng of hostile farmers and the problem they present. Such a reading might be supported by the proverbial ring of skal ‘shall’ in l. 7.