Eskál Lv 1aI
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Lausavísur 1a’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 331.
text and translation
Gerðak veig of virða
víðis illrar tíðar
(þat vann ek, meðan aðrir)
ǫrr Váfaðar (svôfu).
Komkat þess, þars þótti,
þingsættis, fé betra
— meiðr sparir hodd við hróðri
hverr — en skald it verra.
Illrar tíðar gerðak ǫrr {veig Váfaðar} of {virða víðis}; vann ek þat, meðan aðrir svôfu. Komkat {þess þingsættis}, þars fé þótti betra en skald it verra; hverr meiðr sparir hodd við hróðri.
‘At an unfortunate time I composed, eager, strong drink of Váfuðr <= Óðinn> [POETRY] about men of the ocean [SEAFARERS]; I did that while others slept. I have not come to that assembly-reconciler [RULER] where money seemed better but the poet worse; each tree [man] withholds treasure from praise poetry.’
notes and context
In Jvs, Einarr complains that Hákon jarl has shown him little honour (sómi) of late, compared to what he had formerly enjoyed, and threatens to defect to the leader of the Jómsvíkingar, Sigvaldi Strút-Haraldsson. In Eg (A-redaction only), the stanza is precipitated by the jarl’s refusal to listen to Einarr’s drápa Vellekla (Eskál Vell), because he is angry with the poet for unspecified reasons.
There is less divergence between the Jvs mss versus M in ll. 1-4 than in ll. 5-8, where there are some marked differences between the readings of all lines, except for the second part of l. 8. M shows the greatest similarity to 510, but also has readings that seem to be independent of any extant Jvs ms. — [7-8]: These lines in the Jvs A-redaction mss again suggest corruption. Meiðr ‘tree’ as a man-heiti is suspicious, as it usually functions as the base-word of a man-kenning.
readings
- [1] Gerðak: ‘Gio᷎rda ue⸜t⸝ ek’ 510, ‘Geyrða ek’ M
- [1] veig: víg Flat, om. 510, M
- [2] víðis: vǫrð 510, M
- [2] illrar tíðar: þann er sitr á jǫrðu 510, þann er sitr at jǫrðu M
- [3] þat vann ek: iðrumk þess 510, M
- [4] ǫrr Váfaðar: ‘orua ued urs of’ Flat, ‘aur uꜳ̋dermenn’ 510
- [5] Komkat þess þars þótti (‘komkaþ ec þes þar er þotte’): ‘katr er þrotz þar er þotti’ Flat, komkat ek þrótt þann er þœtti 510, hykkat ek hodda stǫkkvi M
- [6] þingsættis fé betra: þrenna linns at finna 510, ‘hinnig sotta sotta ek gram þottu’ M
- [7] meiðr sparir hodd við hróðri: færi mik fyrða mæri 510, fýsinn frœknum vísa M
- [8] hverr: ‘fere’ 510, ‘ferri’ M
- [8] en: om. 510, M
- [8] skald it: ‘skíalld enn’ 510, skald in M
- [8] verra: verri 510
sources
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
-
AM 291 4° (291) — 34r/11 - 34r/13
images -
GKS 1005 fol (Flat) — 25ra/43 - 25ra/46
Gerðak víg of virða
images
víðis illrar tíðar
(þat vann ek, meðan aðrir)
†orua ued urs of† (svôfu).
†katr er þrotz þar er þotti† ,
þingsættis, fé betra
— meiðr sparir hodd við hróðri
hverr — en skald it verra. -
AM 510 4° (510) — 59r/3 - 59r/7
†Gio᷎rda ue⸜t⸝ ek† of virða
images
vǫrð þann er sitr á jǫrðu
(iðrumk þess , meðan aðrir)
†aur uꜳ̋dermenn† (svôfu).
komkat ek þrótt þann er þœtti ,
þrenna linns at finna,
— færi mik fyrða mæri
†fere† — †skíalld enn† verri. -
AM 132 fol (M) — 95va/36 - 95va/39
†Geyrða ek† of virða
images
vǫrð þann er sitr at jǫrðu
(iðrumk þess , meðan aðrir)
ǫrr Váfaðar (svôfu).
hykkat ek hodda stǫkkvi ,
†hinnig sotta sotta ek gram þottu†,
— fýsinn frœknum vísa
†ferri† — skald in verra. -
AM 461 4°x (461x) — 551/12 - 552/1
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