Mun ek eigi gulli við Gusi skipta
né heldr fyrri til friðar mæla.
Mér er bráðr bani betri miklu
en hugleysi ok heðankváma.
Ek mun eigi skipta gulli við Gusi né heldr mæla fyrri til friðar. Bráðr bani er mér miklu betri en hugleysi ok heðankváma.
I will not share gold with Gusir nor ever [be] the first to sue for peace. A quick death is much better for me than lack of courage and escape from here.
[5] bráðr bani: so 471, bragr 343a
[5] bráðr bani ‘a quick death’: The reading of 471 is again preferable to that of 343a (and some other mss), whose bragr ‘the foremost, outstanding one’ or ‘poetry’ (cf. LP: 1. and 2. bragr) does not make sense in context.