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.
[8] Hákun: ‘hallkæm’ 54, ‘halkæm’ Bb
[8] Hákun: The variant ‘hal(l)kæm’ in 54 and Bb could be an assimilated form of the adj. haldkvæm(r) ‘fit, meet, convenient’, but this could only qualify f. nom. sg. heipt ‘violence’, which is already qualified by the weak adj. harða ‘harsh’, and the clause would lack a nominal subject.