Sonr beið einn, sá er ek átta,
í austrvegi dauða;
Hvítserkr var sá heitinn,
hvergi gjarn at flýja.
Hitnaði hann af höfðum
höggvins vals at rómu;
kaus þann bana þengill
þróttarsnjallr, áðr felli.
Einn sonr, sá er ek átta, beið dauða í austrvegi; sá var heitinn Hvítserkr, hvergi gjarn at flýja. Hann hitnaði af höfðum vals höggvins at rómu; þróttarsnjallr þengill kaus þann bana, áðr felli.
One son of mine met his death in the east; that one was called Hvítserkr, in no way inclined to take flight. He was burnt by the heads of the slain cut down in battle; the prince, courageous in his strength, chose that manner of death before he fell.
[1] einn sonr, sá er ek átta ‘one son of mine’: Lit. ‘one son, whom I had’. All eds apart from those of CPB, Rafn (FSN), and Örnólfur Thorsson (Ragn 1985), supply by normalisation the rel. particle es, er in one form or another (sá es, sá er, sá’s, sá’r), where ms. 1824b has only sá. The loss of the relative particle er is a feature of C14th Old Norse, cf. NS §261; see also SkP VII, lxvii.