Môttrs, an menn of hyggi,
mætr goðs sonar betri;
þós engla gramr ǫllu
ǫrr helgari ok dýrri.
Mætr môttr sonar goðs [e]s betri, an menn of hyggi; þós ǫrr gramr engla helgari ok dýrri ǫllu.
The splendid power of the son of God [= Christ] is better than men can imagine; moreover the generous prince of angels [= God (= Christ)] is holier and more glorious than everything.
[2] goðs: goð U
[2] sonar goðs ‘of the son of God [= Christ]’: The reading of R has been adopted here (so also SnE 1998). Both Skj B and Skald prefer vinar goðs ‘of the friend of God’, the reading of Tˣ, W and A, but there is little support in the skaldic corpus (cf. Meissner 386) for designating Christ the friend of God, whereas there are many kennings based on the ‘son of God’ model (e.g. Anon Pl 10/8VII, Anon Pét 19/5, 7VII). Kennings that use the model ‘friend of God’ usually refer to priests or other holy men (cf. Meissner 387-8), not to Christ.