Vasa fý*st, es rannk rastir
reiðr of skóg frá Eiðum
— menn of veit, at mœttum
meini — tolf ok eina.
Hykka fót án flekkum
— fell sár á il hvára —
— hvast gengum þó þingat
þann dag — konungsmǫnnum.
Vasa fý*st, es rannk reiðr tolf rastir ok eina of skóg frá Eiðum; menn of veit, at mœttum meini. Hykka fót konungsmǫnnum án flekkum; sár fell á hvára il; þó gengum hvast þingat þann dag.
It was not [my] desire when I ran, angry, twelve leagues and one through the forest from Eiðar; people know that we met with harm. I think not a foot of the king’s men was without sores; a wound landed on each sole; still, we travelled keenly there that day.
[2] Eiðum ‘Eiðar’: It is maintained by Noreen (1922a, 73) and Finnur Jónsson (1932, 13) against most others that sg. Eið (st. 2/1) and pl. Eið or Eiðar designate different places. Beckman (1923, 332) explains the pl. as referring collectively to Stora and Lilla Edet in Bohuslän. Note that Snorri understood the sg. and pl. forms to refer to the same place: see the Context to the preceding stanza, with its pl. form in comparison to the sg. one in the stanza itself. On the difficulties of establishing Sigvatr’s route, see Introduction.