Olmr erumk harmr, sás hilmir
hafði; golli vafðan
jǫfurr kreisti sá austan
aflfátt meðalkafla.
Gagn fengu því þegnar,
þeir at hôlfu fleiri
— hvǫtuð tælði þat hildar —
— hvôrungi frýk — vôru.
Harmr, sás hilmir hafði, erumk olmr; sá jǫfurr kreisti meðalkafla, vafðan golli, aflfátt austan. Þegnar fengu gagn því, at þeir vôru hôlfu fleiri; þat tælði hvǫtuð hildar; frýk hvôrungi.
The grief that the ruler had rages at me; that prince clenched the sword-grip, wound about with gold, with scant support from the east. The subjects won victory because they were twice as many; that ensnared the inciter of battle [WARRIOR = Óláfr]; I fault neither side.
[5] þegnar ‘the subjects’: These are the landowners who should have been loyal to the king. For the suggestion that this term implies internal opposition in the late Viking Age, see Jesch (1993a, 167-9; Jesch 2001a, 225). In the prose sources, Óláfr’s opponents are normally called bœndr ‘farmers’ (cf. st. 11/4, with the earlier form búendr).