Óð með øxi breiða
ódæsinn framm ræsir
— varð of hilmi Hǫrða
hjǫrdynr — ok varp brynju,
þás of skapt, en skipti
skapvǫrðr himins jǫrðu,
— Hel klauf hausa fǫlva —
hendr tvær jǫfurr spendi.
Ódæsinn ræsir óð framm með breiða øxi ok varp brynju; hjǫrdynr varð of hilmi Hǫrða, þás jǫfurr spendi tvær hendr of skapt, en skapvǫrðr himins skipti jǫrðu; Hel klauf fǫlva hausa.
The unsluggish ruler stormed forth with broad axe, and cast off his byrnie; a sword-clash [BATTLE] arose around the ruler of the Hǫrðar [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús], as the prince clenched both hands around the shaft, and the shaping guardian of heaven [= God] allotted earth; Hel clove pallid skulls.
[7] Hel klauf hausa fǫlva: om. 61
[7] Hel: The axe Hel had, according to Snorri, been owned by Magnús’s father Óláfr (MgóðHkr ch. 28, ÍF 28, 43). Theodoricus, in his Historia (MHN 49) also reports that Magnús wielded his father’s axe (not there named) two-handed at Lyrskovshede (Hlýrskógsheiðr), and that it was shattered in the battle but is partly preserved in the cathedral at Trondheim (Niðaróss). Hel was the goddess of death and her realm in pre-Christian mythology, and by juxtaposing the name with himins ‘heaven’s’ and jǫrðu ‘earth’ (both l. 6) the skald seems to encourage these associations.