Arn Þorfdr 19II/3 — hrǫfnum ‘for ravens’
Ek em, síz ýtar hnekkðu
jarla sætt, es vættik,
— jǫfn fengusk hræ hrǫfnum —
hegju trauðr at segja.
Sleit fyr eyjar útan
allvaldr blôu tjaldi;
hafði hreggsvǫl dúfa
hrími fezk of líma.
Ek em trauðr at segja hegju, síz ýtar hnekkðu sætt jarla, es vættik; jǫfn hræ fengusk hrǫfnum. Allvaldr sleit blôu tjaldi fyr útan eyjar; hreggsvǫl dúfa hafði fezk hrími of líma.
I am loath to speak of events, since men thwarted the truce between the jarls, as I anticipated; from both sides alike flesh was found for ravens. The mighty ruler wore to shreds the dark awnings out beyond the islands; the snow-cold billow had fastened itself in frost about the mast.
notes
[3] jǫfn hræ fengusk hrǫfnum ‘from both sides alike flesh was found for ravens’: As Björn Magnússon Ólsen (1909a, 299) pointed out, the sentence cannot mean that an equal number of men were slain on both sides at Rauðabjǫrg, since st. 22/3-4 state that one jarl’s losses were much smaller.