‘Lát grund grafa, gera skorninga,’
sagði Merlínus menja deili.
‘Veitið vatni, ok vitið síðan,
hvat spát hafi spillir bauga,
— þat es nýlunda — niðr ór fjalli.’
‘Lát grafa grund, gera skorninga,’ sagði Merlínus deili menja. ‘Veitið vatni niðr ór fjalli ok vitið síðan, hvat spillir bauga hafi spát; þat es nýlunda.’
‘Have the earth dug, form channels,’ Merlin said to the sharer of neck-rings [GENEROUS MAN = Vortigern]. ‘Drain the lake down from the mountain and then find out what the despoiler of rings [GENEROUS MAN = Merlin] has prophesied; that is a novelty.’
[5-10]: Complex word order occurs intermittently in Merl. See for example I 54/9-12 and I 63/5‑8.