Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Fragments 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 154.
The half-stanza (ESk Frag 3) commemorates the gift of a precious drinking horn and was likely part of a poem composed for a ruler or magnate in return for his munificence. Jón Sigurðsson (SnE 1848-87, III, 364) assigned it to a no-longer extant poem about the Norwegian chieftain Eindriði ungi ‘the Young’, probably because Einarr is said to have composed poetry in his honour (SnE 1848-87, III, 269, 286, and cf. ESk Geisl 45/3VII). There is, however, nothing in this stanza to warrant such an attribution. The name of the poet is given as Einarr in all mss, but no patronymic is recorded for him (see Note to Frag 2 [All] above). Because Einarr often describes the items he has received as gifts in return for his poetry (see ESk Øxfl above), the attribution of this stanza to him is likely to be correct. The helmingr is recorded in mss R (main ms.), Tˣ, A, B (and 744ˣ) and C of Skm (SnE).
Næst sék orm á jastar
ítrserki vel merkðan
(nemi bjóðr, hvé ferk) flœðar
(fjarðbáls, of þat máli).
Næst sék orm, vel merkðan, á {ítrserki {flœðar jastar}}; nemi {bjóðr {fjarðbáls}}, hvé ferk máli of þat.
‘Next I see a serpent, well engraved, on the splendid shirt of the yeast’s flood [BEER > DRINKING HORN]; may the donor of fjord-fire [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] learn how I treat that in speech. ’
Fjarð- ‘fjord-’ is given among the heiti for ‘sea’ in Skm.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Næst sék orm á jastar
ítrserki vel merkðan
(nemi bjóðr, hvé ferk) flœðar
(fjarðbáls, of hlyn máli).
Næst sék orm á jastar
ítrserki vel merkðan
(nemi bjóðr, hvé ferk) †flodar†
(fjarðbáls, of hlyn máli).
Næst sék orm á jastar
ítrserki vel merkðan
(nemi bjóðr, hvé ferk) flœðar
(fjaðr-báls, of þat máli).
Næst sæ æk orm a iastar ítr særki væl merktan næmi bioðr hve ek fær flę́ | ðar fiaðr báls vm þat máli .
(VEÞ)
Næst sék †[…]m† á jastar
ítrserki vel †merkt[…]†
(†[…]lodar† , )
(fjaðr-báls, of þat máli).
Næst sék †ọṛm† á jastar
ítrserki vel merkta
(†nemi bíoðr hue ek fer flódar† , )
(fjarðbáls, of þat máli).
†Æst† sék orma rastar
ítrserki vel merkta
(nemi bjóðr, hví ferk) flœðar
(fjarðbáls, of hlyn mála).
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