Gramr myndi sá gǫmlu
gunnbráðr und sik láði
— hann fekk miklu minna
mannspjall — koma ǫllu,
ef ílendra Endils
ættstafr hafa knætti
(vélti herr of Hjalta)
hjalm-Þrótta lið (dróttin*).
Sá gunnbráðr gramr myndi koma ǫllu gǫmlu láði und sik—hann fekk miklu minna mannspjall—, ef ættstafr Endils knætti hafa lið ílendra hjalm-Þrótta; herr vélti of dróttin* Hjalta.
That battle-hasty ruler would have brought all of the ancient land under his sway—he had much the less loss of men—if he, the kin-stave of Endill <sea-king> [RULER], could have had the support of the land-restored helmet-Þróttar <= Óðinn’s> [WARRIORS]; the troop betrayed the Shetlanders’ lord [= Rǫgnvaldr].
[4] ‑spjall: spjǫll Flat
[3-4] minna mannspjall ‘the less loss of men’: Minna is n. acc. sg., but mannspjǫll (ms. ‘mann spioll’) is n. acc. pl. Minna mannspjall is perhaps a better emendation than minni mannspjǫll, for a scribe could well have altered spjall to spjǫll in order to secure what he considered a perfect rhyme with ǫllu, although a rhyme of a : ǫ would have been acceptable.