Meðan gramr, hinns svik samðit,
snart Bilskirnis, hjarta,
grundar fisk með grandi
gljúfrskeljungs nam rjúfa.
Meðan gramr Bilskirnis, hinns samðit svik hjarta, nam rjúfa snart fisk grundar með grandi gljúfrskeljungs.
While the ruler of Bilskirnir <mythical hall> [= Þórr], the one who did not plan treachery in his heart, quickly smashed the fish of the sea-bed [= Miðgarðsormr] with the destruction of the gully-whale [GIANT > = Mjǫllnir].
[1] samðit: so U, samði all others
[1] samðit ‘did not plan’: Ms. U’s reading, with suffixed neg. particle ‑t, has been preferred (with all other eds) over the majority mss’ samði ‘planned’, on grounds of sense, because the god Þórr had a reputation for guilelessness: in Norse myth, he nowhere plans treachery against the gods’ enemies, but acts on their behalf, usually with physical violence, to control or eradicate them.