Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 10’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 15-16.
Ǫld samir Óláfs gilda
— orðgnóttar biðk dróttin —
oss at óðgerð þessi
ítrgeðs lofi kveðja.
Fannk aldri val vildra
— vallrjóðanda allra
raun samir — rétt í einu
ranni fremðarmanna.
Samir oss kveðja gilda ǫld at þessi óðgerð, lofi ítrgeðs Óláfs; biðk dróttin orðgnóttar. Fannk aldri vildra val fremðarmanna rétt í einu ranni; samir raun {allra vallrjóðanda}.
It is fitting for us [me] to summon able men to this poetry-making, to the praise of high-minded Óláfr; I ask the Lord for word-wealth. I never found a more agreeable selection of men of accomplishment right in one house; it befits the experience {of all field-reddeners} [WARRIORS].
Mss: Flat(2ra), Bb(117rb)
Readings: [1] Ǫld: Oss Bb; Óláfs: enn at Bb; gilda: þessu Bb [3] oss at: aldar Bb; óðgerð: Óláfs Bb; þessi: gilda Bb [7] samir: dugir Bb
Editions: Skj AI, 460-1, Skj BI, 429, Skald I, 212, NN §§929, 930, 1204D; Flat 1860-8, I, 2, Cederschiöld 1873, 2, Chase 2005, 60, 133-4.
Notes: [1-4]: There is a discrepancy between the two ms. versions of the first helmingr. Bb reads: Oss samir enn at þessu –, | orðgnóttar biðk dróttin | aldar – Óláfs gilda | ítrgeðs lofi kveðja. This may be translated: ‘It is fitting for us [me] further to summon [people] to this praise of the able, high-minded Óláfr; I ask the Lord of men [= God] for word-wealth’. There are no metrical or grammatical flaws in the Bb version, but the syntax is awkward: both the weak adj. gilda and the strong adj. ítrgeðs must be construed with Óláfs. In the Flat version, ǫld can be construed with gilda, providing a link with the second helmingr that is schematic as well as thematic: ll. 1 and 5 have the same triple-rhyme scheme (ǫld : Ól- : gild-; ald : vál : vild-). Line 2 is a complete parenthetic phrase, preferable to Bb’s biðk aldar dróttin orðgnóttar. Flat probably represents the original text: at some point in the transmission of the Bb version ll. 1 and 3 were transposed, and then later emended by a scribe attempting to make sense of the helmingr. — [4] ítrgeðs (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the high-minded’: The meaning of the first element of the cpd is clear, but there is no precedent for an adj. geðr. Geð, a n. noun, is well attested, and Kock proposes a nominal compound ítrgeð ‘high-minded one’. In his interpretation the helmingr reads ‘it is fitting for us to summon Óláfr’s able men to this poetry-making, to the praise of the high-minded one’ (NN §929). But ítrgeð is unlikely as a noun, and the lexicographers allow an adj. ítrgeðr; cf. LP: ítrgeðr (also CVC; ONP). — [7] samir ‘it befits’: Bb has dugir with much the same meaning and is chosen in both Skj B and Skald, perhaps because samir is also used in l. 1.
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