Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 51’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 48-9.
Tôkn gerir bjǫrt, þaus birta
brandél á Girklandi,
— mál finnsk of þat mǫnnum —
margþarfr Haralds arfi.
Fregnk, at allt (né ógnar
innendr, meguð finna)
dýrð Óláfs ríðr dála
dagræfrs (konung hæfra).
{Haralds margþarfr arfi} gerir bjǫrt tôkn, þaus {brandél} birta á Girklandi; mál finnsk mǫnnum of þat. Fregnk, at Óláfs dýrð ríðr allt dála {dagræfrs}, né meguð, innendr ógnar, finna hæfra konung.
{Haraldr’s very useful heir} [= Óláfr] makes clear signs, which {sword-showers} [BATTLES] manifest in Greece; talk arises among men about that. I hear that Óláfr’s fame rides all across {the day-roof} [SKY/HEAVEN]; you, doers of battle, will not be able to find a more worthy king.
Mss: Flat(2rb), Bb(118ra)
Readings: [1] gerir: so Bb, eru Flat; birta: so Bb, birtask Flat [3] mál: mærð Bb; of: so Bb, um Flat [4] margþarfr: ‘marg þarfr’ corrected from ‘marg þꜳþr’ Flat, ‘man þarfr’ Bb [5] at: om. Bb; allt: alls Bb; ógnar: so Bb, ‘aungir’ Flat [7] ríðr: viðr Bb
Editions: Skj AI, 468, Skj BI, 439-40, Skald I, 216-17, NN §2053; Flat 1860-8, I, 5, Cederschiöld 1873, 8, Chase 2005, 101, 157-8.
Notes: [1-4]: Bb’s text is preferred here (as in Skj B and Skald), as Flat’s raises difficulties of w.o. (especially in l. 3) and sense. Chase 2005, 101 offers a reading based on Flat. — [4] Haralds arfi ‘Haraldr’s heir’: A reference to Óláfr’s father Haraldr grenski (‘the one from Grenland’) and perhaps also an allusion to his ancestor Haraldr hárfagri (‘Fine-hair’), with whom Óláfr liked to associate himself, claiming that the kingdom of Norway established by Haraldr hárfagri was his rightful paternal inheritance (Hkr, ÍF 27, 44). — [6] né meguð ‘you will not be able’: The form is 2nd pers. pl., a direct address to the audience. Both Skj B and Skald emend to megu, making the verb 3rd pers. pl., but this is not necessary. The topic of outdoing is already familiar from sts 11, 13, 14, and 21. — [8] dagræfrs (gen. sg.) ‘day-roof [SKY/HEAVEN]’: On the poetic use of the gen. to designate place, see NS §141.
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