Menn eigu þess minnask
manna Sveins at kanna,
víga Freyr, sízt vôru,
vef-Gefn, þríar stefnur.
Vôn es fagrs á Fjóni
fljóðs; dugir vôpn at rjóða;
verum með fylkðu folki
framm í vápna glammi.
Menn eigu minnask þess, Freyr víga, at kanna vef-Gefn manna Sveins, sízt vôru þríar stefnur. Vôn es fagrs fljóðs á Fjóni; dugir at rjóða vôpn; verum með fylkðu folki framm í glammi vápna.
Men have to remember, Freyr <god> of battles [WARRIOR], to get to know the weaving-Gefn <= Freyja> [WOMAN] of Sveinn’s men, since there were three encounters. There’s prospect of a lovely woman on Fyn; it’s good to redden weapons; let’s take our place with the ranked troop, forward in the tumult of weapons [BATTLE].
[2] Sveins: ‘sæi[…]t’ 39, seint F, ‘s’ H
[2] manna Sveins ‘of Sveinn’s men’: This is taken here, as by most modern eds, with vef-Gefn ‘the weaving-Gefn <= Freyja> [WOMAN]’ (l. 4). This seems preferable because manna Sveins then defines the otherwise mysterious woman and because vef-Gefn precedes the other alternative, þríar stefnur ‘three encounters’ (l. 4), which gives the also plausible ‘three encounters with Sveinn’s men’ (so Skj B). Fms 12, as part of a somewhat forced interpretation, separates manna from Sveins, taking together Sveins menn ‘Sveinn’s men’ as the subject of eigu at minnask ok kanna ‘have to recall and recognise’ (ll. 1, 2).