ESk Geisl 65^VII

Heims hykk hingat kvômu
hǫfuðsmenn í stað þenna
— snarr tyggi bergr seggjum
sólar — erkistóli.
Hérs af himna gervis
heilagr viðr — sem biðjum,
yfirskjǫldungr, bjarg, aldar,
oss — píningar krossi.

Hykk hǫfuðsmenn heims kvômu erkistóli hingat í stað þenna; {snarr tyggi sólar} bergr seggjum. Hérs heilagr viðr af krossi píningar {gervis himna}; {yfirskjǫldungr aldar}, bjarg oss, sem biðjum.

I know that the rulers of the world brought an archbishopric here to this place; {the quick prince of the sun} [= God (= Christ)] saves men. Here there is holy wood from the Cross of torture {of the maker of the heavens} [= God (= Christ)]; {supreme king of men} [= God], protect us as we pray.

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

Readings: [2] hǫfuðsmenn: so Bb, hǫfuð manns Flat    [3] snarr: snart Bb    [4] erkistóli: so Bb, ‘erchistolar’ corrected from ‘erchisolar’ Flat    [7] bjarg: so Bb, bjarg þú Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 471, Skj BI, 443-4, Skald I, 218; Flat 1860-8, I, 7, Cederschiöld 1873, 9, Chase 2005, 115, 164-5.

Notes: [1-4]: A reference to the establishment of the archdiocese of Trondheim in 1152, the visit of Cardinal Nicholas Breakspear to Norway, and his consecration of Jón Birgisson (who was in Einarr’s audience) as its first archbishop. — [5] gervis himna ‘of the maker of the heavens’: A kenning for Christ, the creative word through whom God made the universe (Heb. I.1-2). The image of Christ as creator occurs frequently in hymns; Einarr would have known, e.g., Conditor alme siderum (AH 51, 46; Ordo Nidr., 131, 133, 135, 137-41, 144-5, 149-50); Regni cælestis conditor (AH 51, 3); Christe, cælorum conditor (AH 51, 41). Cf. also Mark Frag 1^III. — [6, 8] heilagr viðr af krossi píningar ‘holy wood from the Cross of torture’: King Sigurðr Jórsalafari (‘Jerusalem-traveller’) brought the relic of Christ’s Cross to Trondheim after receiving it as a gift from Baldwin I of Jerusalem during a trip to Palestine in 1110 (Ágr, 50-1; Storm 1888, 66; Hkr, III, 250). — [7] yfirskjǫldungr aldar ‘supreme king of men [= God]’: The God-kenning reflects the kenning for the hierarchy in the first helmingr: the pope may be the head-man of the world, but God is ‘over-king of mankind’, the supreme ruler of everything. Cf. hæstr skjǫldungr ‘highest prince’, st. 6/7 and ins hæsta hilmis ‘of the highest king’, st. 67/7.

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. Ágr = [Anonymous] Ágrip af Nóregs konunga sögum.
5. AH = Dreves, G. M., C. Blume and H. M. Bannister, eds. 1886-1922. Analecta hymnica medii aeui. 55 vols. Leipzig: Reisland. Rpt. 1961. New York: Johnson.
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. Storm, Gustav, ed. 1888. Islandske annaler indtil 1578. Christiania (Oslo): Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond. Rpt. 1977. Oslo: Norsk-historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt.
9. 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.
10. Internal references
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=4> (accessed 25 April 2024)
12. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Fragments 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 293.