ESk Geisl 21^VII

Dýrð lætr dróttins Hǫrða
— dragisk mærð þin*ig — hrœrða
ítr (munat ǫðlingr betri)
alls grœðari (fœðask).
Greitt má gumnum létta
guðs ríðari stríðum;
rǫskr þiggr allt, sem œskir,
Óláfr af gram sólar.

{Ítr grœðari alls} lætr dýrð {dróttins Hǫrða} hrœrða; mærð dragisk þin*ig; betri ǫðlingr munat fœðask. {Guðs ríðari} má greitt létta stríðum gumnum; rǫskr Óláfr þiggr allt, sem œskir, af {gram sólar}.

{The glorious healer of all} [= God] causes the fame {of the lord of the Hǫrðar} [= Óláfr] to be disseminated; may the praise poem turn itself hither; a better prince will not be born. {God’s knight} [SAINT = Óláfr] can easily alleviate afflictions for men; brave Óláfr gets all he desires from {the king of the sun} [= God].

Mss: Flat(2ra), Bb(117va)

Readings: [1] dróttins: dróttin Flat, dǫgling Bb    [2] dragisk mærð þin*ig hrœrða: ‘dragizst mærd þannig hrærda’ Flat, ‘dvlezt menn vid þat gledia’ Bb    [5-8] ‘’ abbrev. as ‘Greitt’ Flat, ‘’ ‘Greittm.’ Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 463, Skj BI, 432, Skald I, 213, NN §3106; Flat 1860-8, I, 3, Cederschiöld 1873, 3-4, Chase 2005, 71, 142-3.

Notes: [1] dróttins ‘of the lord’: Sense requires a gen. sg. here, but neither ms. provides one. — [2]: This l. is obviously corrupt in Bb and is probably also some distance from the original in Flat. Flat’s version makes good sense but unmetrical ms. ‘þannig’ ‘thither’ must be emended to þinig ‘hither’ to provide two short syllables; so Skj B and Skald. — [3] grœðari alls ‘healer of all’: Cf. læknir heims ‘the healer of the world’ in 57/8. The kenning may have a scriptural base (cf. Exod. XV.26 and Ps. CII.3) or be related to the hymns Rex æterne, Domine (AH 51, 5): Tu vulnerum latentium / Bonus assistis medicus ‘You are present as the good healer of hidden wounds’, and Magnum salutis gaudium (AH 51, 73): Iesus, redemptor gentium, / sanavit orbem languidum ‘Jesus, the redeemer of the nations, healed an ailing world’ (Ordo Nidr., 218, 221, 368-9, 428-30). — [5-8]: The ll. of the refrain, which is abbreviated in all repeats, except for Flat’s st. 30, are supplied from st. 18.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. AH = Dreves, G. M., C. Blume and H. M. Bannister, eds. 1886-1922. Analecta hymnica medii aeui. 55 vols. Leipzig: Reisland. Rpt. 1961. New York: Johnson.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.