Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Fragments 14’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 164.
Like Frag 9-13 above, this helmingr (ESk Frag 14) also describes a sea-voyage, but the content does not make it clear whether it belonged to an encomium. It is preserved in mss R (main ms.), Tˣ, W, U and B of Skm (SnE). Ms. B is now almost illegible, and 744ˣ has been used in its place. The full name of the poet is given in all mss. Jón Sigurðsson (SnE 1848-87, III, 354) assigned the half-stanza to Einarr’s panegyric about Sigurðr jórsalafari (ESk Sigdr III; see Introduction to Frag 2 above).
Viknar ramr í Rakna
reksaumr flugastraumi;
dúks hrindr bǫl, þars bleikir
bifgrund, á stag rifjum.
Ramr reksaumr viknar í {flugastraumi Rakna}; {bǫl dúks} hrindr rifjum á stag, þars {bifgrund} bleikir.
The strong seam of driven nails flexes in {the cascade of Rakni <sea-king>} [SEA]; {the harm of the sail} [WIND] forces the reefs against the stay, where {the trembling ground} [SEA] goes white.
Mss: R(26v), Tˣ(27v), W(57), U(30r), B(5r), 744ˣ(32v) (SnE)
Readings: [1] ramr: rammr W, ‘ran’ U; Rakna: raknar U [2] ‑saumr: ‑saums 744ˣ [3] dúks: so U, ‘dugs’ R, Tˣ, om. W, dags 744ˣ; þars (‘þar er’): so all others, þar R [4] ‑grund á: so all others, ‑grundar R; rifjum: ‘r[…]’ U, ‘rífín’ 744ˣ
Editions: Skj AI, 481-2, Skj BI, 453, Skald I, 223, NN §960; SnE 1848-87, I, 328-31, II, 317, 530, III, 54, SnE 1931, 118, SnE 1998, I, 38.
Context: As Frag 9-13 above.
Notes: [1] Rakna ‘of Rakni <sea-king>’: For this name, see Note to Þul Sea-kings l. 8. — [2] í flugastraumi ‘in the cascade’: Lit. ‘in the cliffs’ current’, i.e. a waterfall, a heavy flow of water tumbling over a steep cliff. The first element in this cpd, fluga- is taken here as gen. pl. of flug n. ‘cliff, steep mountainside, precipice’ (see Fritzner: flug 2; so also AEW). Cf. Note to Eil Þdr 1/1 for this meaning of flug-. See also Grett Lv 28/6V (Gr 60) and Note there. Earlier eds, who construe Rakna ‘of Rakni <sea-king>’ as the determinant in a kenning for ‘sea’ (see Note to l. 4 below), interpret flugastraumr as ‘violent current’ without a determinant (so Skj B and LP, Fritzner: flugastraumr), in which fluga- is gen. pl. of flug n. ‘quick speed’ which Fritzner glosses a hurtig Fart (Fritzner: flug 1). That is also a possible interpretation. — [2] reksaumr ‘the seam of driven nails’: Lit. ‘driven seam’, e.g. the seam of nails that holds the overlapping planking together (see also ESk Lv 15/2). — [4] bifgrund ‘the trembling ground [SEA]’: This is an imperfect kenning for ‘sea’ (but see Rv Lv 21/4II svalteigr ‘cool plot [SEA]’), and some earlier eds (Skj B; SnE 1998, I, 38, II, 244) take Rakna ‘of Rakni’ (l. 1) as a determinant: bifgrund Rakna ‘the shaking ground of Rakni’, i.e. ‘the sea’. That construction leaves a dangling prep. (í ‘in’, l. 1), which does not otherwise occur in skaldic syntax (see NN §960). The R variant, bifgrundar (f. gen. sg. or nom./acc. pl.), cannot be construed in a syntactically meaningful way. — [4] stag ‘the stay’: For stag ‘stay’ see Note to Frag 10/3 above. — [4] rifjum ‘the reefs’: The reef (rif) is the horizontal strip of the sail that can be pulled up to shorten the sail (see Falk 1912, 68-9, SnE 1998, II, 376-7 and Jesch 2001a, 163).
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