ESk Geisl 44^VII

Tók, þás fell inn frœkni
fylkis kundr til grundar,
sverð, es sókn vas orðin,
sœnskr maðr af gram þrœnzkum.
Sá vas hjǫrr ins hôva
hrings stríðanda síðan
gulli merktr í Girkja
gunndjarfs liði fundinn.

Sœnskr maðr tók sverð af þrœnzkum gram, þás {inn frœkni kundr fylkis} fell til grundar, es sókn vas orðin. Sá hjǫrr, gulli merktr, {ins hôva gunndjarfs stríðanda hrings} vas síðan fundinn í liði Girkja.

A Swedish man took the sword from the king from Trøndelag when {the brave descendant of a king} [= Óláfr] fell to the ground, when the battle was over. That sword, decorated with gold, {of the tall, battle-eager enemy of the ring} [GENEROUS MAN = Óláfr] was later found in the army of the Greeks.

Mss: Flat(2rb), Bb(118ra)

Readings: [1] inn: so Bb, ‘[...]nn’ Flat    [3] es: hinn Bb;    sókn vas: sœkja Bb;    orðin: þorði Bb    [5] vas: so Bb, ‘hefir’ Flat    [6] hrings: harm Bb;    stríðanda: so Bb, stríðandi Flat    [8] fundinn: so Bb, fundizk Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 467, Skj BI, 438, Skald I, 216; Flat 1860-8, I, 5, Cederschiöld 1873, 7, Chase 2005, 94, 154.

Notes: [2] kundr fylkis ‘descendant of a king’: It is unclear whether any specific one of Óláfr’s royal predecessors is implied in this kenning. The reference may be to either Haraldr hárfagri or Óláfr Tryggvason, both of whom he claimed as ancestors. — [5]: After hjǫrr, the scribe of Flat has erased a word, which is no longer legible. — [5, 8] vas ... fundinn ‘was ... found’: Although Flat’s hefr … fundisk is grammatically possible, ‘(that sword) … has (later) been found’, l. 5 then lacks internal rhyme, which Bb’s reading (sá vas… hva) provides. — [6] stríðanda ‘enemy’: Bb’s reading must be the correct one, since the nom. form stríðandi is not grammatically feasible in the helmingr. — [7, 8] í liði Girkja ‘in the army of the Greeks’: The Greek army referred to here is that of the Byzantine emperor called Kirjalax in Nordic sources, variously identified as Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081-1118) or his son John II Komnenos (r. 1118-43). See further Note to 47/7.

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. Internal references
8. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ 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. 383.