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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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ESk Øxfl 7III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Øxarflokkr 7’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 147.

Einarr SkúlasonØxarflokkr
678

Blóðeisu liggr bæði
bjargs tveim megin geima
sjóðs (ák søkkva stríði)
snær ok eldr (at mæra).

Bæði {snær sjóðs} ok {eldr geima} liggr tveim megin bjargs {blóðeisu}; ák at mæra {stríði søkkva}.

Both {snow of the purse} [SILVER] and {fire of the sea} [GOLD] lie on the two sides of the crag {of the blood-ember} [AXE]; I must praise {the fighter of enemies} [WARRIOR].

Mss: R(32v), Tˣ(34r), W(75), U(31v), A(10r), B(3v), C(4r) (SnE); 2368ˣ(92), 743ˣ(72v) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] Blóðeisu: ‘blóþ[…]’ U;    liggr: ‘[…]ggr’ U, gefr C    [2] bjargs: bergs U, ‘biags’ A, brags B, bjarg C, ‘braugs’ 2368ˣ, ‘biaugz’ 743ˣ    [3] søkkva: støkkva B;    stríði: ‘striþ[…]’ U    [4] snær: ‘[…]nær’ U;    eldr: ‘e[…]dr’ U;    mæra: næra 2368ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 478, Skj BI, 450-1, Skald I, 222, NN §§1153, 1783C, 2057D, 2990B; SnE 1848-87, I, 404-5, II, 322, 433, 517, 582, III, 70, SnE 1931, 144, SnE 1998, I, 61; LaufE 1979, 347.

Context: The half-stanza is recorded among several stanzas illustrating kennings for ‘gold’ (eldr geima ‘fire of the sea’) and ‘silver’ (snær sjóðs ‘snow of the purse’) in Skm (and LaufE).

Notes: [All]: The poet is named Einarr Skúlason in all mss. — [1] blóðeisu ‘of the blood-ember [AXE]’: This could also be a kenning for ‘sword’ (see Introduction above). If so, its ‘crag’ (bjargs, l. 2) would be the hilt rather than the axe-head. ‘Crag’ is not part of the kenning here, rather, it is a metaphor which belongs to the imagery of snow and fire lying on the sides of the axe-head. — [1] liggr (3rd pers. sg. pres. indic.) ‘lie’: Lit. ‘lies’. The subject is coordinate and the verb in the sg. (see NS §70). — [3] stríði søkkva ‘the fighter of enemies [WARRIOR]’: Kock (NN §1783C) suggests that søkkva is gen. pl. of a n. noun søkk ‘gold, treasure’ (cf. OE, OS sinc ‘treasure’; also AEW: søkk). See Notes to Eyv Hál 1/10I, Eyv Lv 4/5I and Ótt Knútdr 11/1I. If so, stríði søkkva would be rendered ‘fighter of treasures,’ i.e. ‘generous man’. However, the warrior-kenning is echoed in st. 8/7 below (fellir folka ‘feller of armies’).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
  3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
  6. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
  7. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
  8. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  9. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
  10. Internal references
  11. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘(Biography of) Einarr Skúlason’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 140.
  12. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  13. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 1’ 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. 197.
  14. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Lausavísur 4’ 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. 219.
  15. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Knútsdrápa 11’ 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. 781.
  16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=10928> (accessed 28 March 2024)
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