Bjbp Jóms 22I/2 — bǫrðusk ‘they fought’
Lǫgðu heiptar hvattir
herðimenn, þar er bǫrðusk,
— herr var hauðr at verja
hundmargr — saman randir.
Ok víkingi váru
— varð raun at því — einum
— þat kveða eigi aukit —
ýtar fimm at móti.
Herðimenn hvattir heiptar lǫgðu randir saman, þar er bǫrðusk; hundmargr herr var at verja hauðr. Ok fimm ýtar váru at móti einum víkingi; raun varð at því; kveða þat eigi aukit.
Brave men, urged into combat, laid shields together where they fought; there was an immense army to defend the land. And five men were against one viking; there was proof of that; they say that is not exaggerated.
notes
[2] þar er bǫrðusk ‘where they fought’: The rel. clause is best taken (as also in Fms 12 and NN §1280) as qualifying the first clause, with herðimenn ‘warriors’ as its subject. In Skj B it is linked with the parenthetical statement. This, however, involves a change of grammatical number (sg. herr ‘army’ and pl. bǫrðusk) and assumes that the rel. clause precedes the main clause it qualifies, which is counter to the normal skaldic rule (Kuhn 1983, 190-1).