Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Lausavísur 10’ 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. 229.
Einn dróttin hefk áttan,
jǫfurr dýrr, an þik fyrra;
bellir, bragningr, elli;
biðkat mér ins þriðja.
Trúr vask tyggja dýrum;
tveim skjǫldum lékk aldri;
fyllik flokk þinn, stillir;
fellr á hendr mér elli.
Hefk áttan einn dróttin fyrra an þik, dýrr jǫfurr; elli bellir, bragningr; biðkat mér ins þriðja. Vask trúr dýrum tyggja; lékk aldri tveim skjǫldum; fyllik flokk þinn, stillir; elli fellr á hendr mér.
I have had one lord before you, dear king; old age presses, prince; I do not ask for a third for myself. I was true to the prized leader; I never played with two shields; I fill up your following, ruler; old age descends on me.
Mss: Kˣ(109r), F(19ra), J1ˣ(65r-v), J2ˣ(62v) (Hkr); 61(6va), Bb(8vb) (ÓT); FskBˣ(13v), FskAˣ(60-61) (Fsk)
Readings: [2] fyrra: so J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, fyrri Kˣ, F, Bb, FskBˣ, FskAˣ [3] bellir: so FskBˣ, FskAˣ, belli Kˣ, F, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, Bb; bragningr: ‘bragingr’ FskBˣ [4] biðkat: bið ek Bb; mér: mér ok Bb [5] Trúr: tryggr F, ‘tryr’ J1ˣ; vask (‘var ec’): vil ek Bb [6] lékk: leik ek J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, Bb [8] fellr: fellsk FskBˣ; á: í 61
Editions: Skj AI, 73-4, Skj BI, 64, Skald I, 40, NN §2218; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 227, IV, 63-4, ÍF 26, 202, Hkr 1991, I, 134 (HGráf ch. 1), F 1871, 86; Fms 1, 50-1, Fms 12, 31, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 49-50 (ch. 31); Fsk 1902-3, 52 (ch. 13), ÍF 29, 98 (ch. 14); Krause 1990, 255-9.
Context: Fsk places the stanza directly after Lv 7, as part of a dialogue exchange dramatising the continued pressure on Eyvindr to placate Haraldr gráfeldr. The narration is less elaborate in Hkr and ÓT: Haraldr accuses Eyvindr of bad faith in composing hostile stanzas after having pledged allegiance.
Notes: [2] fyrra an ‘before’: Fyrra is a comp. adj., hence einn dróttin fyrra an þik is lit. ‘one earlier lord than you’. — [3] bellir ‘presses’: This is the weak verb bella ‘to deal, display, use’, which most often takes an object (in the dat.) referring to negative entities such as treachery or force; the strong bella normally means ‘hurt, harm, affect’, with dat. of the person affected (CVC, Fritzner, AEW: bella; also NN §2218A). The present instance seems to combine aspects of both usages. There is no explicit object, but from the context, including mér ‘for myself’ in l. 4 and the second reference to elli ‘old age’ in l. 8, it is clear that the skald has his own advancing age in mind. — [6] lékk aldri tveim skjǫldum ‘I never played with two shields’: The line apparently contains an idiom leika tveim skjǫldum ‘play with two shields’ denoting duplicity (cf. Am 74/8), perhaps based on the idea of swiftly exchanging one shield for another (LP: 3. leika 2). — [7] fyllik flokk þinn, stillir ‘I fill up your following, ruler’: Sentiments declaring or reaffirming loyalty may have been a skaldic commonplace (cf. Sigv Lv 3). — [8] á hendr mér ‘on me’: More literally, ‘on my hands/arms’.
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