Sæfðu lamb guðs lofðar
ljóst (hafa þess í brjóstum)
ok ert enn í slíku
altári (lög sára),
því at lautviðir létu
lastbundnir helgasta
linns, þá er lausn gaf mönnum,
lífs fórn á þik borna.
Lofðar sæfðu ljóst lamb guðs — hafa þess lög sára í brjóstum — ok ert enn altári í slíku, því at lastbundnirlinns lautviðir létu helgasta fórn lífs, þá er gaf mönnum lausn, borna á þik.
Men slaughtered the radiant Lamb of God — they have its sea of wounds [BLOOD] in their breasts — and you are still an altar in such [offering], for sin-bound trees of the serpent’s dell [(lit. ‘dell-trees of the serpent’) GOLD > MEN] caused the holiest sacrifice of life, that which gave men liberation, to be placed upon you.
[4] lög sára ‘sea of wounds [BLOOD]’: The kenning may play off the nautical images of sts 33-4; cf. benja lögr ‘sea of wounds’ SnSt Ht 60/6III. That those who sacrificed (saefðu, l. 1) the Lamb have its blood í brjóstum ‘in their breasts’ (l. 2) is a sign of their guilt but also, perhaps, of shared humanity with Christ’s human nature, i.e. that they have violated what is kindred.