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.
[4] hundmargr: ‘hund[…]’ R, RCP, ‘hundingiar’ 65ˣ, hundmargr RFJ
[4] hundmargr ‘immense’: Damage to the foot of the R leaf here makes it impossible now to ascertain the second element of this word and the following words. Af Petersens in Jvs 1879 prints ‑margr as a conjecture, while Finnur Jónsson in Skj prints it as a reading. Hundmargr fits sense and metre, and the same adj. qualifies herr ‘army’ in Hfr ErfÓl 5/1-2 and Þfagr Sveinn 1/7-8II. Sveinbjörn Egilsson in Fms 11 favours hundingja, which resembles the 65ˣ reading, and glosses it víkingi ‘the viking’ in Fms 12, presumably taking it as a generalised use of the name of the legendary King Hundingi, who features in Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis (see SkP VIII). See ÞHjalt Lv 2/7-8 and Note for a similarly problematic instance of Hundings, emended in Skj B to hundmargs.