Fell inn forsnjalli
fyst, inn víglysti,
ýgr í austrvegi,
allr á Helpalla,
dauðr, um dalreyðar,
dáðkunnr, miskunnir.
Beit at brandmóti
brynstingr víkingum.
Inn forsnjalli, inn víglysti, ýgr í austrvegi, fell fyst, allr á Helpalla, dauðr, dáðkunnr, um miskunnir dalreyðar. Brynstingr beit víkingum at brandmóti.
The very brave one, the battle-eager one, fearsome in the east, fell first, lifeless onto Hel’s benches, dead, deed-renowned, during the mercies of the valley-char [SNAKE > SUMMER]. The corslet-stabber [SWORD] bit for vikings at the sword-meeting [BATTLE].
[3] í austrvegi ‘in the east’: As Barwell (1976, 128) notes, austrvegr lit. ‘the east way’ refers to the lands of the eastern Baltic and especially the lands reached by the river routes that the vikings followed through Russia. The prose of Sǫrla gives no more specific location than this for Sǫrli’s death in battle.