ESk Geisl 16^VII

Ok hagliga hugðisk
hrøkkviseiðs ins døkkva
lyngs í lopt upp ganga
látrs stríðandi síðan.
Lét, sás landfolks gætir,
líknframr himinríki
umgeypnandi opnask
alls heims fyr gram snjǫllum.

Ok {stríðandi {látrs {ins døkkva hrøkkviseiðs lyngs}}} hugðisk síðan ganga hagliga upp í lopt. {Líknframr umgeypnandi alls heims}, sás gætir landfolks, lét himinríki opnask fyr snjǫllum gram.

And {the enemy {of the lair {of the dark coiling fish of the heather}}} [SNAKE > GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] thought then that he went easily up into the air. {The outstandingly merciful encompasser [lit. holder in hand] of the whole world} [= God], who watches over the people of the country, caused the kingdom of heaven to open before the clever king.

Mss: Flat(2ra), Bb(117rb); R(35v), Tˣ(37r), W(81), U(34v), A(12v) (SnE, ll. 5-8)

Readings: [1] hagliga: so Bb, hverlofaðr Flat    [2] ‑seiðs: baugs Bb    [4] látrs: látr Bb    [5] landfolks: so Bb, R, Tˣ, W, U, A, lands folk Flat    [6] líknframr: líknsamr Bb, A, líkbjartr R, Tˣ, W, líknbjartr U    [7] umgeypnandi: umgeypnanda Tˣ;    opnask: opna R, Tˣ, W, U, A

Editions: Skj AI, 462, Skj BI, 431, Skald I, 213; Flat 1860-8, I, 2, Cederschiöld 1873, 3, Chase 2005, 66, 137-8; SnE 1848-87, I, 450, SnE 1931, 159, SnE 1998, I, 78.

Context: Lines 5-8 occur in several mss of the Skm section of SnE among examples of kennings for Christ. Snorri comments: ‘Here kennings become ambiguous, and the person interpreting the poetry has to distinguish from the context which king is being referred to. For it is normal to call the emperor of Constantinople king of the Greeks, and similarly the king that rules Palestine, to call him king of Jerusalem ... And the kenning that was quoted above, calling Christ king of men, this kenning can be applied to any king.’ (Faulkes 1987, 127-8; cf. SnE 1998, I, 78). Snorri was aware of Einarr’s use of double entendre to associate Óláfr with Christ.

Notes: [2] hagliga ‘easily’: The Bb reading is necessary for the rhyme with hugðisk. — [6] líknframr ‘outstandingly merciful’: The reading of the SnE mss R, Tˣ and W, líkbjartr ‘bright in body’ offers a viable alternative here, as does U’s líknbjartr ‘bright of (?shining in) mercy’. — [7, 8] umgeypnandi alls heims ‘encompasser [lit. holder in hand] of the whole world’: Ps. XCIV.4 (in manu eius fines terrae ‘in his hands are all the ends of the earth’) is probably the inspiration for this kenning, understood here to refer to God even though Snorri Sturluson (see Context) apparently understood it to refer to Christ. Cf. similar periphrases in Anon Mgr 2/5, Kálf Kátr 36/3, Gamlkan Has 29/7-8 and 64/6.

References

1. Bibliography
2. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
3. Cederschiöld, Gustaf J. Chr., ed. 1873b. ‘Bandamanna saga’. Acta Universitatis Lundensis 10.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Cederschiöld, Gustaf J. Chr., ed. 1873a. Geisli eða Óláfs Drápa ens Helga er Einarr orti Skúlason: efter ‘Bergsboken’ utgifven. Acta Universitatis Lundensis 10. Lund: Berling.
6. Chase, Martin, ed. 2005. Einarr Skúlason’s Geisli. A Critical Edition. Toronto Old Norse and Icelandic Studies 1. Toronto, Buffalo and London: Toronto University Press.
7. Faulkes, Anthony, trans. 1987. Snorri Sturluson. Edda. Everyman’s Library. London and Rutland, Vermont: J. M. Dent & Sons and Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc. Rpt. with new chronology and synopsis 2005.
8. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
9. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Internal references
12. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
13. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Króka-Refs saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 1186-1190. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=39> (accessed 25 April 2024)
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 25 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=144> (accessed 25 April 2024)
17. Kirsten Wolf (ed.) 2007, ‘Kálfr Hallsson, Kátrínardrápa 36’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 953-4.
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Drápa af Máríugrát 2’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 760-1.
19. Jonna Louis-Jensen and Tarrin Wills 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Plácitusdrápa’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 179-220. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1039> (accessed 25 April 2024)
20. Martin Chase 2007, ‘ Einarr Skúlason, Geisli’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 5-65. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1144> (accessed 25 April 2024)
21. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Þórr’s fishing 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 51.
22. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 29’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 97-8.
23. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2017, ‘Þórðr mauraskáld, Fragment 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 475.