Ærin, var, sem elding færi
(inn um borð) á lægi norðan,
(öldum varp) er húfum helduð,
hilmis kundr, til jörmungrundar.
Víða þurðu vísa ferðar
veglig flaust und búnu segli;
geiga létuð gyltar sýjur,
grundar vörðr, at Eyrarsundi.
Var, sem ærin elding færi norðan á lægi, kundr hilmis, er helduð húfum til jörmungrundar; varp öldum inn um borð. Veglig flaust vísa ferðar þurðu víða und búnu segli; vörðr grundar, létuð gyltar sýjur geiga at Eyrarsundi.
It was as if a great flash of lightning travelled from the north across the sea, son of the ruler [= Hákon], when you brought the hulls to the vast land; waves were thrown in over the gunwale. Magnificent ships of the leader of the troop raced far and wide under the adorned sail; defender of the land [KING], you let gilded ships drift to Øresund.
[7] geiga: geisa 81a
[7] geiga ‘drift’: It seems strange that the ships that were racing are now drifting rather aimlessly to and fro. Konráð Gíslason thought geiga might mean svífa ‘drift, float’, describing the movement of the ships on the water (Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 81; CVC). The reading in 81a, geisa ‘rush’, is a more natural continuation of the previous couplet where the fleet rushes on towards Halland, but the other ms. witnesses show that it is secondary, and it leaves the l. without internal rhyme (also note the rhyme -eig- : -ýj-; see ANG §251). For geiga, see also Note to Sturl Hákkv 32/8.