Mundit lung it langa
(læsíks) und gram ríkum
(blóð kom á þrǫm þíðan)
þjóð varliga hrjóða,
meðan ítr*vini Áta
innanborðs at morði
— sú gerðisk vel — varði
verðung jǫfurs sverðum.
Þjóð mundit varliga hrjóða it langa lung und ríkum gram — blóð kom á þíðan þrǫm læsíks —, meðan verðung jǫfurs varði ítr*vini Áta sverðum at morði innanborðs; sú gerðisk vel.
The troop would hardly have cleared the long vessel under the mighty ruler — blood spurted onto the pliant rail of the poison-whitefish [SNAKE = Ormr inn langi] —, while the retinue of the prince defended the glorious friends of Áti <sea-king> [SEAFARERS] with swords in the battle on board; they performed worthily.
[1, 4] mundit varliga hrjóða ‘would hardly have cleared’: Mundit is literally negative, ‘would not’ (mundi, 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of munu ‘shall, will, may’, plus negative enclitic -t). The sense is clearly that the enemy had difficulty overcoming Ormr’s crew, so negative mundit plus adv. varliga ‘hardly’ presumably has intensifying effect. Skj B adopts Flat’s reading mundi, printing myndi (the forms are interchangeable).