Menn sá ek þá, er af miklum hug
veittu fátækum frama;
lásu englar helgar bækr
ok himna skript yfir höfði þeim.
Ek sá menn þá, er af miklum hug veittu fátækum frama; englar lásu helgar bækr ok himna skript yfir höfði þeim.
I saw men then who from a generous spirit offered support to the poor; angels read holy books and heavenly writing [lit. writing of the heavens] over their heads.
[6] ok himna skript: om. papp15ˣ, 738ˣ, 167b 6ˣ, 214ˣ, 1441ˣ, 10575ˣ, 2797ˣ
[4-6] lásu englar helgar bækr ok himna skript yfir höfði þeim ‘angels read holy books and heavenly writing over their heads’: Both alliteration and metre have gone awry in the last half of this st. There is no alliteration in ll. 4-5 and, although it supplies alliteration, the phrase ok himna skript makes l. 6 much too long. It is found only in 166bˣ and 8 other mss closely related to 166bˣ. Other eds have improved ll. 4-6 by altering the w.o.: Skj B, followed by Skald, have helgar bœkr | ok himna skript | lsu þeim englar yfir; Falk gives helgar bækr | ok himna skript; Fidjestøl puts ok himna skript in brackets, but leaves it at the beginning of l. 6.