Ok sannliga sunnan
(sôusk vítt búendr ítrir)
(stríð) of stála meiða
(stór) hersǫgur fóru.
Súðlǫngum frá Sveiða
sunnr af dregnum hlunni
vangs á vatn of þrungit
viggmeiðr Dana skeiðum.
Ok sannliga fóru hersǫgur of meiða stála sunnan; ítrir búendr sôusk vítt stór stríð. Sveiða vangs viggmeiðr frá súðlǫngum skeiðum Dana of þrungit á vatn af dregnum hlunni sunnr.
And in truth war-stories about trees of steel [WARRIORS] travelled from the south; excellent farmers widely feared great strife. The tree of the steed of the field of Sveiði <sea-king> [(lit. ‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’) SEA > SHIP > SEAFARER] heard that the long-planked warships of the Danes had been thrust onto the water from the worn launching-roller in the south.
[6] dregnum: drǫgnum J1ˣ, 61, 54
[6] dregnum hlunni ‘the worn launching-roller’: So Konráð Gíslason (1892, 146-7) and most eds. The reference is to the wear and tear on the rollers through launching ships or pulling them ashore. See further Note to Sturl Hryn 12/4II, where the same phrase occurs. Kock (NN §1106) takes dregnum with skeiðum ‘warships’ (l. 8), but the resulting word order is awkward.