Sextán hefik sénar
senn ok topp í enni
jarðar elli firrðar
ormvangs saman ganga.
Þat bôrum vér vitni,
vestr at hér sé flestar
— sjá liggr út við élum
ey — kollóttar meyjar.
Hefik sénar sextán senn, firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs, ok topp í enni, ganga saman. Vér bôrum þat vitni, at hér vestr sé flestar meyjar kollóttar; sjá ey liggr út við élum.
I have seen sixteen [women] all at once, denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD], and [they had] a fringe on their forehead, walking together. We bore witness to the fact that, here in the west, most maidens are bald; that island lies out in the direction of storms.
[7] élum: ‘elon’ Flat, ‘elu’ R702ˣ
[7] élum ‘storms’: The emendation was first suggested in Orkn 1887. It is likely that the scribe of R702ˣ merely omitted or missed the abbreviation mark for ‘m’, as he did with ‘baru’ in l. 5.