BjHall Kálffl 2I/3 — blóði ‘blood’
Ǫld fekk illt ór deildum;
Erlingr vas þar finginn;
óðu blǫkk í blóði
borð fyr Útstein norðan.
Ljós es raun, at ræsir
ráðinn varð frá láði;
lǫgðusk lǫnd und Egða;
lið þeira frák meira.
Ǫld fekk illt ór deildum; Erlingr vas finginn þar; blǫkk borð óðu í blóði fyr norðan Útstein. Ljós es raun, at ræsir varð ráðinn frá láði; lǫnd lǫgðusk und Egða; frák lið þeira meira.
Men came off badly from the exchanges; Erlingr was captured there; black planks advanced through blood north of Utstein. The outcome is clear, that the ruler was deprived of his country; lands became subject to the Egðir; I heard that their host was larger.
notes
[3-4] blǫkk borð óðu í blóði ‘black planks advanced through blood’: Borð ‘plank’ (here nom. pl.) is frequently used as a pars pro toto expression for ‘ship’ (Jesch 2001a, 140), as it may be here, but the literal meaning is also possible, and would allow for reference to a single ship, perhaps specifically Erlingr’s, rather than generally to all those involved in the battle. The adj. blakkr ‘dark, black’ may suggest the tarring of the hull, as in Þloft Tøgdr 3/2, 4 kolsvartir viðir ‘coal-black ships’. Bleik ‘pale’ in several ÓH mss and brún ‘brown’ in Fsk are also metrically possible.