Uggðu Egðir
ǫrbeiðis fǫr
svans sigrlana
sǫkrammir mjǫk.
Allt vas golli
grams skip framit;
vǫrum sjón sǫgu
slíks ríkari.
Sǫkrammir Egðir uggðu mjǫk fǫr ǫrbeiðis svans sigrlana. Skip grams vas allt framit golli; sjón slíks vǫrum ríkari sǫgu.
The battle-strong Egðir greatly feared the journey of the eager demander of the swan of victory-heaps [CORPSES > RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIOR]. The king’s ship was all decorated with gold; the sight of such was to me more powerful than [any] telling.
[5] golli ‘with gold’: On textual evidence for gold decoration on Viking Age ships see Foote (1978, 64). Traditions concerning the adornments of Danish ships, specifically those of Knútr’s father, Sveinn, are also recorded in the Encomium Emmae Reginae I. 4 (Campbell 1998, 12-15). In the reading of DG8, FskAˣ and some ÓH mss, however, it is the lið ‘troop, force’ in general that is adorned with gold, and not simply Knútr’s ship.