ESk Geisl 41^VII

Sótti skrín it skreytta
skíðrennandi síðan
— orð finnask mér — unnar
Óláfs dreka bóli,
ok þeim, es vel vakði
(veitk sǫnn) Hugins teiti,
máls fekk hilmir heilsu
heilagr (á því deili).

{{Unnar skíð}rennandi} sótti síðan Óláfs skrín it skreytta {bóli dreka}; orð finnask mér; ok heilagr hilmir fekk heilsu máls þeim, es vel vakði teiti Hugins; veitk sǫnn deili á því.

{The runner {of the ski of the wave}} [(lit. ‘ski-runner of the wave’) SHIP > SEAFARER] then sought Óláfr’s shrine, the one ornamented {with the dwelling of the dragon} [GOLD]; words come to me; and the holy prince got the health of speech for that man who had well aroused the gladness of Huginn <raven>; I know true proof of that.

Mss: Flat(2rb), Bb(117vb)

Readings: [5] vel: val Bb    [8] deili: deilir Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 466, Skj BI, 437, Skald I, 215; Flat 1860-8, I, 4, Cederschiöld 1873, 6, Chase 2005, 91, 152.

Notes: [All]: Cf. verbal echoes in the prose accounts: Biðr miok gratande hinn hælga Olaf konong lia ser mals oc hæilsu. Þui næst feck hann mal oc miskunn af þæim goða kononge ‘Weeping greatly, he beseeches the holy king Óláfr to grant him speech and health. Immediately he obtained speech and mercy from the good king’ (ÓHLeg 1982, 226: the sentence also appears in HómNo, 116). — [4] bóli dreka ‘with the dwelling of the dragon [GOLD]’: The gold-kenning (to be construed with skreytta ‘ornamented’) is a conventional allusion to the dragon Fáfnir and his hoard. — [5, 6] es vel vakði teiti Hugins ‘who well aroused the gladness of Huginn’: The rel. cl. is equivalent to kennings referring to warriors or men as promoters of the joy of carrion beasts and birds, by slaying enemies and so providing them with food; cf. 43/3-4. It applies to the beneficiary of the miracle.

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. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. ÓHLeg 1982 = Heinrichs, Anne et al., eds and trans. 1982. Olafs saga hins helga: Die ‘Legendarische Saga’ über Olaf den Heiligen (Hs. Delagard. saml. nr. 8^II). Heidelberg: Winter.
8. HómNo = Indrebø, Gustav. 1931. Gamal norsk homiliebok, Cod. AM 619, 4°. Det norske historiske Kjeldeskrift Fond, Skrifter 54. Oslo: Dybwad. Rpt. 1966. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
9. Internal references
10. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 20’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 23-4.