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].
[5] um ‘during’: The ms. abbreviation ‘v̄’, construed here as um, has been understood by some eds (Skj, Skald, NN §2596) as a shortened form of varð ‘became, was’. Even Barwell (1976, 129), who reads um, assumes an implicit varð. All these eds take dáðkunnr ‘deed-renowned’ as substantival, and construe varð with dauðr ‘dead’ as varð dauðr ‘was dead, died’.