Þats dullaust,
hvé Danir gerðu
dyggva fǫr
með dǫglingi.
Þar vas jarl
fyrst at upphafi,
ok hverr maðr,
es honum fylgði,
annarr drengr
ǫðrum betri.
Þats dullaust, hvé Danir gerðu dyggva fǫr með dǫglingi. Þar vas jarl fyrst at upphafi, ok hverr maðr, es fylgði honum, annarr drengr, betri ǫðrum.
It is without concealment, how the Danes made a faithful journey with the monarch [= Sveinn]. There the jarl [= Haraldr Þorkelsson] was first and foremost, and every man who followed him, each warrior, [was] better than the next.
[6] fyrst ‘first’: This is omitted in 325VI and 321ˣ, and in Skj B and Skald, as it results in a five-syllable line. Fyrst may have been introduced in the course of transmission, encouraged by the existence of a set phrase fyrst at upphafi ‘first and foremost’ (Fritzner: fyrst 3, upphaf 3).