ESk Geisl 46^VII

Mérs — því mærð skal skýra
mildings, þess’s gaf hringa,
styrjar snjalls — of stilli
styrkjan vant at yrkja,
þvít tôkn, þess’s lið læknar,
lofðungs himintungla
— ljós kemr raun of ræsi —
ranns ferr hvert á annat.

Mérs vant, at yrkja of styrkjan stilli — því skal skýra mærð styrjar snjalls mildings, þess’s gaf hringa — þvít tôkn {lofðungs {ranns himintungla}}, þess’s lið læknar, ferr hvert á annat; ljós raun kemr of ræsi.

It is difficult for me to compose [poetry] about the strong ruler — therefore I shall make clear the praise of the clever-in-battle prince who gave rings — because miracles {of the prince {of the house of heavenly bodies}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)], who heals men, go one after another; clear proof appears about the king.

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

Readings: [1] því: en Bb;    skýra: stæra Bb    [3] snjalls: so Bb, ‘snallz’ Flat    [4] styrkjan: so Bb, ‘styrkann’ Flat    [5] læknar: læknir Bb    [6] himin‑: vinar Bb    [7] kemr: verðr Bb;    of: so Bb, um Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 467, Skj BI, 438, Skald I, 216; Flat 1860-8, I, 5, Cederschiöld 1873, 7, Chase 2005, 96, 154-5.

Notes: [4] styrkjan (m. acc. sg.) ‘strong’: Styrkr is an alternative form of the adj. sterkr showing the effect of ablaut (ANG §167). It is presumably used here for the sake of the rhyme with yrkja. — [5-8]: The helmingr works at two levels. The primary meaning is that Óláfr’s miracles are signs given by God as proof of the saint’s holiness. Þess’s lið læknar ‘the one who heals men’ (l. 5) and lofðungs ranns himintungla ‘of the prince of the house of heavenly bodies’ (ll. 6, 8) clearly refer to Christ. But they can also refer to Óláfr: although the miracles are ultimately God’s, a point which Einarr emphasizes, they are also Óláfr’s in the sense that he is their efficient cause. The variant reading vinar ‘of the friend’ (vinar lofðungs ranns tungla ‘of the friend of the prince of the house of heavenly bodies [= God > = Óláfr]’), adopted in Skj B and Skald, makes the reference to Óláfr the Saint explicit in the Bb text. The two helmingar of st. 46 juxtapose not only Óláfr and Christ, but also the Óláfr who gave rings and the Óláfr who heals. These eight ll. thus concisely express the theme of the drápa, as is fitting for the st. that begins its slœmr, or concluding section.

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. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
6. 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.
7. 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.
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.