Heims lézt verð ok virða
vegit gimsteinum fegra,
himna ljóss, í hvössum,
háleitr, friðar skálum.
Vág erat víst né frægri
(vétt sýnir þú rétta)
ófs til ýta gæfu
(alsetrs vera) betri.
Háleitr, ljóss himna, lézt vegit verð heims ok virða, fegra gimsteinum, í hvössum skálum friðar. Erat víst betri né frægri vág til ýta ófs gæfu; þú sýnir rétta vétt alsetrs vera.
High, radiant one of the heavens [CROSS], you weighed the price of the world and men, fairer than gems, in sharp scales of peace. Surely there is not a better or more famous balance for men’s bounteous good fortune; you show the just weight of the common seat of men [WORLD].
[8] alsetrs vera ‘of the common seat of men [EARTH]’: Skj B separates and emends the prefix to alls, assigning the adj. to the intercalary clause to modify ófs (i.e., ‘the just weight of all pride’), but the al- prefix means simply ‘general, common’ as in alþingi ‘general assembly’. Alsetrs vera, a kenning for ‘of the whole world’ (NN §1396); cf. Meissner, 87, based on Skj B: vera setr as earth-kenning, i.e. ‘the earth as dwelling place of mankind’. The sense here is probably more ‘world’ (saeculum with its moral implications), than ‘earth’ per se; it is not physical creation that is weighed in the balance of the Cross.