Berk fyr hefnð, þás Hrafna
(hljóm*) lof (togins skjóma
þann) nam vǫrðr at vinna
(vann) síns fǫður hranna.
Berk lof fyr hefnð, þás vǫrðr Hrafna hranna nam at vinna fǫður síns; vann þann hljóm* togins skjóma.
I bear praise for the revenge that the guardian of the Hrafnar <horses> of the waves [SHIPS > SEAFARER] took for his father; [he] made the din of the drawn sword [BATTLE].
[2] lof ‘praise’: Most interpreters view lof as the obvious object of berk ‘I bear’ (l. 1), even though it does not occur until l. 2. The exception is Kock (NN §397), who, striving for the simplest syntax, conjoins berk directly to fyrir hefnd ‘I recite the revenge’, i.e. ‘I speak of the revenge’. There is, however, no known instance of a collocation bera fyrir (with fyrir as an adv.) with this meaning.