Note to Gamlkan Has 8VII
[3-4] barkat bráðgǫrt blóm á verkum ‘I did not bear easily ripened fruit on account of [my] deeds’: Finnur Jónsson emends B’s á (l. 3) to af and translates jeg høstede ikke tidlig modnet frugt af mine gærninger ‘I did not harvest early ripened fruit from my deeds’ (Skj B), though he indicates his uncertainty with a question mark. Jón Helgason’s interpretation, jeg bar ikke tidlig blomst paa mine gerninger [det vil sige] mine ungdomsgerninger var ikke skønne ‘I did not bear early flower on account of my deeds [that is to say] the deeds of my youth were not pretty’ (1935-6, 254) may be the more correct. There appears to be no direct source for the expression, though it is possible that the parable of the trees and fruit in Matt. VII.16-20 may have influenced Gamli’s thought here.