Fylgða ek fylki, þeim er framast vissak,
— þá unða ek bezt ævi minni —
áðr fór †ór† — en því flögð ollu —
hinzta sinni til Hörðalands.
Ek fylgða fylki, þeim er vissak framast — þá unða ek bezt ævi minni —, áðr fór †ór† hinzta sinni til Hörðalands; en flögð ollu því.
I followed the ruler, the one I knew [to be] most distinguished — then I enjoyed my life the best — before I went … for the last time to Hordaland; but demons caused that.
[6] því: ‘þun’(?) 152
[6] en flögð ollu því ‘but demons caused that’: The line is reminiscent of the intercalary clause bǫnd ollu því ‘the powers caused that’ in Þjóð Haustl 17/2III, although flǫgð are lesser beings than the pre-Christian gods (bǫnd). Starkaðr is here attributing the cause of his dastardly sacrifice of his own leader to flǫgð, translated here as ‘demons’ rather than the more specific ‘ogresses, troll-women’. As the noun can refer to male as well as female supernatural beings (cf. Ingimarr Lv 1/1II), and may do so here, given the context, female causative agents have not been written into the translation.