Eggjendr baðat ugga
óhlífinn gramr lífi,
hvégis lét inn ljóti
landgarðr fyrir barði.
Satt vas, at allvaldr átti
ógnsnart borit hjarta;
súð varð í gný grœðis
geyst farsælu treystask.
Óhlífinn gramr baðat eggjendr ugga lífi, hvégis inn ljóti landgarðr lét fyrir barði. Vas satt, at allvaldr átti borit ógnsnart hjarta; geyst súð varð treystask farsælu í gný grœðis.
The unsparing lord did not tell the warriors to fear for their life, no matter how the hideous land-enclosure [SEA] howled before the bow. It was true that the mighty ruler was born with a battle-keen heart; the swift-moving ship had to trust its luck in the din of the sea.
[1] eggjendr (m. acc. pl.) ‘the warriors’: Lit. ‘inciters’. Usually serves as the base-word in a kenning and requires a determinant. Taken here as a half-kenning for ‘warriors’. Skj B emends to eggviðu ‘blade-woods’ (i.e. ‘warriors’), while Skald supplies eggsendi ‘blade-senders’ (see NN §2549). Both emendations are metrically incorrect because they result in heptasyllabic ll. (resolution on the verb in positions 3-4 does not otherwise occur until the C14th).