Alm dró upplenzkr hilmir
alla nôtt inn snjalli;
hremsur lét á hvítar
hlífr landreki drífa.
Brynmǫnnum smó benjar
blóðugr oddr, þars stóðu
— flugr óx †fannings† vigra —
Finna gjǫld í skjǫldum.
Inn snjalli upplenzkr hilmir dró alm alla nôtt; landreki lét hremsur drífa á hvítar hlífr. Blóðugr oddr smó benjar brynmǫnnum, þars gjǫld Finna stóðu í skjǫldum; flugr †fannings† vigra óx.
The valiant Oppland king drew his elm-bow all night long; the land-ruler made shafts pelt onto white shields. The bloody point pierced wounds on the byrnie-men, where the tribute of the Saami [ARROWS] penetrated shields; the flight of †fanning’s† spears increased.
[1, 2] inn snjalli upplenzkr hilmir ‘the valiant Oppland king’: Upplenzkr hilmir may be deliberately chosen to counter the claim of Hákon Ívarsson to power in Opplandene (the provinces of Upplǫnd, Norway). See Note to Hharð Gamv 6/2. As a m. nom. sg., inn snjalli ‘the valiant’ could qualify hilmir ‘king’ in l. 2, hence forming two couplets, as assumed here and by most eds, but it could also qualify landreki ‘land-ruler’ in l. 4 (also referring to Haraldr), as assumed in Fms 12 (reading oddviti ‘leader’) and by Finnur Jónsson in Hkr 1893-1901, Fsk 1902-3 and Skj B. This avoids assuming that both a strong (upplenzkr) and a weak adj. (snjalli) qualify the same noun, but that is within the bounds of skaldic practice (cf. ÞjóðA Run 3/3, 4 and Note).