ESk Geisl 26^VII

Mál fekk maðr, þars hvílir
margfríðr jǫfurr, síðan,
áðr sás orða hlýru
afskurðr farit hafði.
Frægð ríðr fylkis Egða
folksterks af því verki;
jǫfurs snilli fremsk alla
ungs á danska tungu.

Síðan fekk maðr mál, þars margfríðr jǫfurr hvílir, sás afskurðr {hlýru orða} hafði áðr farit. Frægð {folksterks fylkis Egða} ríðr af því verki; snilli ungs jǫfurs fremsk á alla danska tungu.

Then a man gained speech, where the very beautiful king rests, whose cut-off piece {of the ship-bow of words} [TONGUE] had earlier been destroyed. The fame {of the army-strong leader of the Egðir} [= Óláfr] travels because of that deed; the honour of the young king is advanced in the whole Norse tongue.

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

Readings: [1] þars (‘þar er’): ‘er’ Bb    [3] hlýru: hlýðu Bb    [4] afskurðr: ‘af skyfdr’ Bb;    farit: ‘farezt’ Bb    [6] folk‑: folks Bb    [7] fremsk: þreifst Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 464, Skj BI, 433, Skald I, 214, NN §2536; Flat 1860-8, I, 3, Cederschiöld 1873, 5, Chase 2005, 76, 144-5.

Notes: [1] fekk maðr mál ‘a man gained speech’: Cf. st. 24/1 Sjón fekk seggr. — [3-4]: There are two possible readings of these ll., one following Flat and the other Bb. Following Flat: maðr, sás afskurðr hlýru orða hafði áðr farit (as in translation above), the reading requires one to assume a r : ð rhyme (cf. Kuhn 1983, 79). Following Bb: maðr, sás áðr hafði farit afskýfðr hlýðu orða ‘the man who earlier had gone deprived of the shipboard of words [TONGUE]’. The rhyme here is acceptable (áðr : hlýðu) and hlýða ‘ship’s planking’ is the difficilior lectio (for this reading, see Skald and NN §2536). Einarr uses a similarly nautical tongue-kenning, r óðar ‘oar of poetry’, in 40/7-8. — [8] á alla danska tungu ‘in the whole Norse [lit. Danish] tongue’: I.e. ‘wherever the Norse tongue is spoken’; an idiom referring to the Scandinavian peoples whose common language was recognised to be Norse. It does not mean ‘Danish’ in the modern sense. Cf. also Sigv Víkv 15/8^I, Mark Eirdr 25/4^II, Anon Lil 4/4. The use of tunga is possibly a grisly pun on the theme of the first helmingr.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Cederschiöld, Gustaf J. Chr., ed. 1873b. ‘Bandamanna saga’. Acta Universitatis Lundensis 10.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 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. 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.
8. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1983. Das Dróttkvætt. Heidelberg: Winter.
9. Internal references
10. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 4’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 566-7.
11. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 25’ 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, pp. 454-5.
12. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Víkingarvísur 15’ 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. 554.