Mætr Hákon vann
en Magnús fann
hjörr Eiríks hiekk
hans bróðir giekk
langfeðra láð,
lögvizku ráð;
á rítar slóð;
að refsa þjóð.
Mætr Hákon vann láð langfeðra, en Magnús fann ráð lögvizku; hjörr Eiríks hiekk á slóð rítar; bróðir hans giekk að refsa þjóð.
Excellent Hákon won his paternal ancestors’ land, but Magnús gained counsel of legal learning; Eiríkr’s sword hung upon the shield’s track [ARM]; his brother was busied with punishing people.
[4] bróðir hans ‘his brother’: This was Eiríkr’s younger brother, Hákon háleggr ‘High-leg’ Magnússon (r. 1299-1319), who succeeded him on the throne of Norway because Eiríkr died childless. Line 8 arguably alludes to Hákon’s reputation for successfully curbing the power of the Norwegian magnates. Hákon is probably also referred to in st. 7/1 above, where he is characterised as handsterkr ‘strong-handed’, doubtless another allusion to his tough domestic policies. On the implications of these references to Hákon’s reign, referred to in the past tense both here and in st. 7, for the dating of the anonymous poetry in FoGT, see st. 7 Note to [All].