ÞjóðA Magnfl 15II/1 — eyða ‘clearing’
Náði jarl at eyða
jǫfra setr á vetri;
lézt eigi þú lítla
landvǫrn af þér standa.
Máttir, Magnús, hætta,
mildr, í folk und skildi;
nefa Knúts vas þá nýtum
nær sem ráðinn væri.
Jarl náði at eyða setr jǫfra á vetri; þú lézt eigi lítla landvǫrn standa af þér. Mildr Magnús, máttir hætta í folk und skildi; nýtum nefa Knúts vas þá nær sem ráðinn væri.
The jarl succeeded in clearing the seat of princes in the winter; you caused no meagre defence of territory to issue from you. Generous Magnús, you were able to venture into battle behind a shield; for the capable nephew of Knútr [= Sveinn] it was then almost as though he were destroyed.
notes
[1] náði at eyða ‘succeeded in clearing’: (a) Náði, the reading of all mss, has been retained. If this is a claim of success on the part of Sveinn (the sacking of an enemy stronghold) it is problematic in an encomium on Magnús, and at odds both with the prose contexts and with ll. 3-4, unless the defence described there is taken as the response to the provocation in ll. 1-2. However, if the sense of eyða is rather ‘empty’ or ‘leave, abandon a place’ (Fritzner: eyða 1, 2), the meaning could be instead that Sveinn cleared his own royal residence in Sjælland by fleeing with all his men. In this case náði ‘succeeded’ would have an ironic ring. (b) Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, III, IV and Skj B) and Kock (Skald) emended by adding negative -(a)t), hence náðit ‘did not succeed’.