Page:Five Pieces of Runic Poetry.djvu/52

the din^[1] of arms; before king Eistin fell in the field. Thence, enriched with golden spoils, we marched to fight in the land of Vals. There the sword cut the painted shields^[2]. In the meeting of helmets, the blood ran from the wounds: it ran down from the cloven sculls of men.

We fought with swords, before Boring-holmi. We held bloody shields: we stained our spears. Showers of arrows brake the shield in pieces. The bow sent forth the glittering steel. Volnir fell in the conflict, than whom there was not a greater king. Wide on the

1. Din is the word in the Islandic original. Dinn greniudu hrottam.
2. Literally, “the paintings of the shields.”