Siklingr lét þar sveita
— sveit fylkis rauð hneiti —
bǫðvar skýrstr í bráði
bráðmôl lituð stála.
Vann blóðroðin benja
benflœðr skolat rœði;
sóknbôru* gat sára
sárvǫrðr þvegit árar.
Þar lét siklingr, skýrstr bǫðvar, bráðmôl stála lituð sveita í bráði; sveit fylkis rauð hneiti. Benflœðr vann skolat blóðroðin rœði benja; sárvǫrðr gat þvegit árar sára sóknbôru*.
There the lord, wisest in war, let welded patterns of swords be coloured with gore in haste; the company of the leader reddened the sword. The wound-flood [BLOOD] rinsed the blood-reddened paddle of wounds [SWORD]; the wound-guardian [WARRIOR] washed oars of wounds [SWORDS] with the battle-wave [BLOOD].
[7] sóknbôru* (f. dat. sg.) ‘with the battle-wave [BLOOD]’: Both mss read sóknbôrur (f. nom. or acc. pl.) ‘battle-waves’, which cannot be accommodated syntactically. Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SnE 1848, 246) emended to sóknbáru (dat. sg. as an instrumental), which has been adopted here. Skj B and Skald have sóknbára (nom. sg.) as the subject of gat ‘got’. For the possible addition of an inorganic final <r>, see Note to st. 8/4.