‘Bresta brynjur, bíta malmar,
eru dreyrfáið dǫrr á lopti,
fleinn á flaugun, folk í dreyra,
bíldr í benjum, broddar á skildi,
hjalmr á hǫfði, hlíf fyr brjósti,
geirr á gangi, guðr í vexti.
‘Bresta brynjur, malmar bíta, dreyrfáið dǫrr eru á lopti, fleinn á flaugun, folk í dreyra, bíldr í benjum, broddar á skildi, hjalmr á hǫfði, hlíf fyr brjósti, geirr á gangi, guðr í vexti.
‘Mail-shirts split, weapons bite; blood-stained darts are in the air, the spear in flight, the army in blood, the arrow in wounds, spear-points in the shield, the helmet on the head, the shield before the breast, the spear in motion, battle on the increase.
[5] fleinn á: fleina Hb
[5] fleinn á ‘the spear in’: Emended by Bret 1848-9, followed by Skj B and Skald, for ms. fleina ‘of spears’ (not refreshed), to maintain parallelism in the catalogue commencing in l. 3. Merl 2012 retains the ms. reading but at the cost of sense and syntax.