Framan unnu gram gunnar
†grafins seiðs† framir meiðar;
biðu Jótar lið ljótan
lagagangs daga strangra.
Lofag sjaldan hóf haldið;
hataz dygð; *rataz lygðir;
tregs halda vegs valdar
veginn arf megindjarfir.
Meiðar †seiðs grafins†, framir gunnar, unnu framan gram; Jótar biðu ljótan lið lagagangs strangra daga. Lofag sjaldan haldið hóf; dygð hataz; lygðir *rataz; megindjarfir valdar tregs vegs halda veginn arf.
The trees … [GOLD? > MEN], outstanding in battle, overcame the prominent prince; the Jótar experienced an ugly situation of legal proceedings during harsh times. I seldom praise moderation preserved; virtue is destroyed; lies are abroad; the very bold possessors of slow honour [CONTEMPTIBLE MEN] keep hold of the slain [man’s] inheritance.
[8] veginn arf ‘the slain [man’s] inheritance’: This phrase was apparently the rhetorical reason for quoting st. 8, as it illustrates the figure of hypallage, transferring the quality of a man who had been killed to the inheritance for which, presumably, his attackers killed him. The usage is rather strained, however, as Björn Magnússon Ólsen (FoGT 1884, 250) noted, and strengthens the likelihood that the stanza was invented by the author of the treatise.