Skeið, frák, valt at verði
Vagn með sína þegna;
ǫll váru þá þeira
þunn skip hroðin ǫnnur.
Upp náðu þar eigi
ǫðlings menn at ganga;
ofan réðu þeir ǫfga
Eireks vini keyra.
Frák, at Vagn verði skeið valt með þegna sína; ǫll ǫnnur þunn skip þeira váru þá hroðin. Menn ǫðlings náðu eigi at ganga upp þar; þeir réðu keyra ǫfga vini Eireks ofan.
I have heard that Vagn defended the warship continuously with his men; all their other narrow ships were then cleared. The prince’s [Eiríkr jarl’s] men could not board there; they [the Jómsvíkingar] managed to drive back the friends of Eiríkr from above.
[7] ǫfga: ýgja 61, 53, yggja 54, Bb
[7] ǫfga ‘back’: The force of the word is adverbial, though grammatically it is m. acc. pl. of the adj. ǫfugr ‘backwards’, hence literally ǫfga vini Eireks ‘the retreating friends of Eiríkr’. The ÓT variant ýgja is the m. acc. pl. form of ýgr ‘fierce, fearsome’.