ESk Geisl 57^VII

Nús oss, þaus vann vísir,
verk fyr þjóð at merkja
nauðr í nýjum óði,
næst; ríðrat þat smæstu.
Krapt skulum guðs, en er giptu,
gunnstyrks lofi dýrka,
lér hjaldrfrǫmum hôrar
heims læknir gram þeima.

Nús oss nauðr at merkja fyr þjóð í nýjum óði verk, þaus vísir vann næst; ríðrat þat smæstu. Skulum dýrka lofi krapt gunnstyrks guðs, en er {læknir heims} lér hôrar giptu þeima hjaldrfrǫmum gram.

Now it is a necessity for us [me] to make known to people, in new poetry, the deeds which the king accomplished next; that is not least important. We should honour with praise the power of the battle-strong God, for is {the healer of the world} [= God] grants great fortune to the battle-prominent king.

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

Readings: [1] oss: so Bb, om. Flat;    vísir: vísi Bb    [4] ríðrat: ‘ridr a’ Bb;    smæstu: smæstum Bb    [5] en: so Bb, ‘þess er’ Flat    [6] gunn‑: geð‑ Bb    [7] hjaldr‑: so Bb, ‘halld’ Flat    [8] læknir: so Bb, læknis Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 470, Skj BI, 441, Skald I, 217; Flat 1860-8, I, 6, Cederschiöld 1873, 8, Chase 2005, 107, 160.

Notes: [1, 3] nús oss nauðr ‘now it is a necessity for us [me]’: Bb’s addition of oss must be adopted here, in order to provide the correct number of syllables and internal rhyme. — [5-8]: Flat’s version of l. 5, Krapt skulum guðs, þess’s giptu is both unmetrical and presents a syntactic problem for the interpretation of the second helmingr, for þess’s ‘the one who’ can only refer to God, but this connection leaves heims læknis dangling. The only way to resolve the difficulty is to adopt Bb’s readings en (l. 5) and læknir (l. 8), as do Skj B and Skald. — [6] gunnstyrks (gen. sg.) ‘battle-strong’: This epithet, applied to God, is varied in Bb as geðstyrks ‘mind-strong, resolute’. — [6] dýrka ‘honour’: The rhyme with -styrks is irregular, unless shortening of <ý> is assumed to have occurred (ANG §127.5); cf. 7/4. — [7] hjaldrfrǫmum ‘battle-prominent’: Flat’s reading, haldfrǫmum ‘tenaciously prominent’, if it is not an error, is hap. leg. and difficult to make sense of. Bb’s hjaldrfrǫmum ‘battle-prominent’ is both easier to understand and more conventional (compounds in hjaldr- are fairly common in skaldic verse). — [8] læknir heims ‘the healer of the world’: Cf. 21/4 grœðari alls ‘healer of all’. The kenning anticipates the miracle of healing in the following sts.

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.