Note to Ólhv Hryn 1II
[4] grein vísa ‘the ruler’s circumstances’: A pun is made on grein in its meanings ‘circumstances’ and ‘branch’, the latter of which includes the literal sense ‘branch of a tree’ and the metaphorical sense ‘branch of a family, royal line’ (see Fritzner: grein 2, 4). Grein vísa simultaneously denotes ‘the ruler’s circumstances’ and ‘the ruler’s branch’, i.e. ‘royal line’. On a literal level, grein vísa sýndisk veglig ‘the ruler’s branch appeared magnificent’ (ll. 3, 4) echoes the blossoming trees mentioned in ll. 2, 3, and metaphorically it refers to the royal dynasty from which Hákon descended.