Trautt erum vér, sem ek vætti,
verðir Ermingerðar,
— veitk, at horsk má heita
hlaðgrund konungr sprunda —
þvít sómir Bil bríma
bauga stalls at ǫllu
— hon lifi sæl und sólar
setri — miklu betra.
Vér erum trautt verðir Ermingerðar, sem ek vætti—veitk, at horsk hlaðgrund má heita konungr sprunda—, þvít at ǫllu miklu betra sómir Bil bríma stalls bauga; hon lifi sæl und setri sólar.
We are hardly worthy of Ermingerðr, as I expect—I know that the wise headband-ground [WOMAN] can be called a king among women—, because [something] altogether much better befits the Bil <goddess> of the flame of the standing-place of rings [ARM/HAND > GOLD > WOMAN]; may she live blessed under the seat of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN].
[4] konungr sprunda ‘a king among women’: Ermengard was Viscountess of Narbonne and so literally a ruler in her own right (Cheyette 2001, 23-4; Note to Rv Lv 15 [All]) as well as conventionally ‘first among women’, as here. See also Arn Þorfdr 15/2 and Note.