Hvervetna frák hǫlða
— herr œxti gný darra —
fyr hreggviðum hjǫrva
hrøkkva gunnar rǫkkum,
áðr í ǫrva drífu
ýtum grimmr at blóta
— framm kom heipt in harða —
Hákun þegar tœki.
Frák hǫlða hrøkkva hvervetna fyr hjǫrva hreggviðum rǫkkum gunnar — herr œxti gný darra —, áðr Hákun, grimmr ýtum í drífu ǫrva, tœki þegar at blóta; in harða heipt kom framm.
I have heard that everywhere men recoiled before trees of the storm of swords [(lit. ‘storm-trees of swords’) BATTLE > WARRIORS] bold in battle — the army caused the din of spears [BATTLE] to increase —, before Hákon, cruel to men in the snow-storm of arrows [BATTLE], proceeded at once to make a sacrifice; the harsh violence proceeded.
[4] rǫkkum: rekkum 61, Bb, rokkum 54
[3, 4] hjǫrva hreggviðum rǫkkum gunnar ‘trees of the storm of swords [(lit. ‘storm-trees of swords’) BATTLE > WARRIORS] bold in battle’: The cpd hreggviðir ‘storm-trees’ also forms part of an inverted warrior-kenning in st. 20/5. Rekkum (m. dat. pl.) ‘warriors’, the variant to rǫkkum in 61 and Bb, does not fit the context since another noun is superfluous.