Réðk, en benjar blœða,
— búþegna sák megna
lið; fekk lindar váði
lífs grand — í bǫð standa.
Réðk standa í bǫð, en benjar blœða; sák búþegna megna lið; váði lindar fekk grand lífs.
I stood in battle, and the wounds bled; I saw farmers strengthen their host; the distress of the linden-shield [SWORD] dealt death.
[1] en benjar blœða ‘and the wounds bled’: Lit. ‘and the wounds bleed’. Skj B connects this cl. with the following cl. and translates blœða as an inf.: sák … en benjar blœða ‘I saw … and (I saw) the wounds bleed’. That construction creates an impossible cl. arrangement (see Kuhn 1983, 190). Kock (NN §3227) suggests that the pres. tense of the verb was caused by the internal rhyme and should be translated as a pret. That suggestion has been adopted in the present edn.