Fara halir hraustir af herskipum,
tólf menn saman tírarlausir.
Vit munum í aptan Óðin gista,
tveir fullhugar, en þeir tólf lifa.
Hraustir halir fara af herskipum, tólf menn saman tírarlausir. Vit munum í aptan gista Óðin, tveir fullhugar, en þeir tólf lifa.
Brave warriors are moving from the warships, twelve men together, lacking glory. This evening we will have lodging with Óðinn, two very brave men, but they twelve shall live.
[6] gista Óðin ‘have lodging with Óðinn’: I.e., Hjálmarr expects that he and Oddr will die in the fight and go to Vallhǫll, the abode of those who die in battle, but that the twelve berserks, who outnumber them, will survive. Oddr puts a contrary view in the following stanza. Hjálmarr’s prophecy is partly fulfilled, ironically in his own case, but not as regards the twelve berserks.