Snarr bar sigr ór hverri
sárlóms mǫtuðr rómu;
hæst gekk hreggbjóðr lista,
hvar lands es kom, randa.
Gnóg vas vist ok, vestan,
vel drengila fengin,
mærr áðr mildingr fœri
margspakr, grôum vargi.
Snarr mǫtuðr sárlóms bar sigr ór hverri rómu; randa hreggbjóðr gekk hæst lista, hvar lands es kom. Vist vas gnóg ok vel drengila fengin grôum vargi, áðr mærr, margspakr mildingr fœri vestan.
The swift feeder of the wound-loon [RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIOR] bore off victory from every clash; the offerer of the storm of shields [(lit. ‘storm-offerer of shields’) BATTLE > WARRIOR] ranked highest in skills, whatever land he came to. The food was plentiful and very bravely provided for the grey wolf before the glorious, very wise prince travelled from the west.
[8] margspakr ‘very wise’: Ms. ‘margspaín’, read as margspáinn (Gullberg 1875), would mean ‘much-prophesying’, qualifying mildingr ‘prince’, i.e. Óláfr. However, since prophecy was regarded with suspicion by most Christian writers, this seems unlikely, as does (with slight emendation) margspám vargi ‘to the very foresightful wolf’ (Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1832, 10, 20). The better solution therefore seems emendation to margspakr ‘very wise’ (so Skj B; Skald). The reading ‘spaín’ could have been influenced by the (also corrupt) ‘graín’.