Ok með fjǫrnis fálu
fór Þorketill leira,
þá er menbroti mælti
mansǫng of Gná hringa.
Gerðisk hann at hǫggva
hauklyndan son Áka;
Vagn gat heldr at hánum
heiptǫrr vegit fyrri.
Ok Þorketill leira fór með fálu fjǫrnis, þá er menbroti mælti mansǫng of Gná hringa. Hann gerðisk at hǫggva hauklyndan son Áka; heiptǫrr Vagn gat heldr vegit at hánum fyrri.
And Þorkell leira (‘Clay’) advanced with the giantess of the helmet [AXE], when the neck-ring-breaker [GENEROUS MAN = Vagn] spoke a love-song about the Gná <goddess> of rings [WOMAN = Ingibjǫrg]. He [Þorkell] made to strike the hawk-tempered son of Áki [= Vagn]; strife-keen Vagn managed instead to slay him first.
[4] man‑: ‘[…]’ 54
[4] mansǫng ‘a love-song’: This is an important attestation of the generic term for the kind of love-poetry whose composition and circulation was banned in Iceland according to Grágás (Grg Ib, 184). The term also occurs in Anon Mhkv 20/3III and is one of the important features shared by the two poems (see Introduction). For discussion of the term and genre, see Marold (2007).