ESk Frag 5^III

The helmingr (ESk Frag 5) must have belonged to an encomium honouring a king of Norway, and Jón Sigurðsson (SnE 1848-87, III, 357) assigned it to Einarr’s panegyric about the sons of Haraldr gillikristr (ESk Harsonkv^II). The helmingr is preserved in mss R, Tˣ, W, U, A and C of Skm (SnE), as well as in LaufE (mss 2368ˣ, 743ˣ) and in RE 1665(Ll), the latter of which has no independent value. Ms. U is the only ms. which contains all four lines, and it is therefore the main ms. The poet’s name is given as Einarr (without patronymic) in all mss of SnE and in 2368ˣ (it is omitted in 743ˣ).

Leyg rýðr ætt á ægi
Óláfs skipa sólar
(ylgr brunar hvatt) ins helga
(hrægjǫrn í spor ǫrnum).

{Ætt ins helga Óláfs} rýðr {leyg {sólar skipa}} á ægi; hrægjǫrn ylgr brunar hvatt í spor ǫrnum.

{The kinsman of the holy Óláfr} [NORWEGIAN KING] reddens {the flame {of the ships’ sun}} [SHIELD > SWORD] at sea; the corpse-eager she-wolf rushes fast in the track of eagles.

Mss: U(33r), R(34r) (ll. 1-2), Tˣ(35v) (ll. 1-2), W(77) (ll. 1-2), A(11r) (ll. 1-2), C(5v) (ll. 1-2) (SnE); 2368ˣ(132), 743ˣ(99r) (LaufE, ll. 1-2)

Readings: [1] Leyg: so R, Tˣ, W, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ, leygr U, A, C;    rýðr: ríðr C;    ætt: ‘eit’ Tˣ, ‘att’ A;    á: at C    [2] Óláfs: Óláfr Tˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 480, Skj BI, 452, Skald I, 222, NN §2539; SnE 1848-87, I, 424-5, II, 329, 439, 589, III, 79-80, SnE 1931, 151, SnE 1998, I, 69; LaufE 1979, 397.

Context: Sól skipa ‘sun of ships’ is given as one of many kennings for ‘shield’ in Skm and LaufE.

Notes: [1, 2, 3] ætt ins helga Óláfs ‘the kinsman of the holy Óláfr [NORWEGIAN KING]’: ‘The holy Óláfr’ is S. Óláfr Haraldsson (d. 29 August 1030). The identity of this particular kinsman is not clear. Einarr did compose a poem about S. Óláfr (ESk Geisl^VII), but none of the other kings of Norway whom Einarr honoured with panegyrics was a direct descendant of Óláfr, because Óláfr’s only son, Magnús inn góði ‘the Good’ (d. 1047), only left behind a daughter, Ragnhildr. Subsequent kings of Norway were descendants of Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-rule’ Sigurðarson (r. 1046-66), Óláfr’s half-brother. — [3] hvatt ‘fast’: This adv. could modify rýðr ‘reddens’ in the first clause (so Skj B). That construction is, however, less likely because the syntactic caesura falls after positions 1 or 3 in A-lines of this type (see NN §2539; Gade 1995a, 150-5).

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. 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.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. 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.
7. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
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. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
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 25 April 2024)
13. Martin Chase 2007, ‘ Einarr Skúlason, Geisli’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 5-65. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1144> (accessed 25 April 2024)
14. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Einarr Skúlason, Haraldssonakvæði (?)’ 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, pp. 548-50. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1147> (accessed 25 April 2024)
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Fragments 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 156.
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 25 April 2024)