Gísl Lv 1^II

Kátr skalk enn, þótt ætli
aldrán viðir skaldi
(jǫrn taka oss at orna)
unda teins (at beinum).
Hverr deyr seggr, en, svarri,
snarts dreng skapat hjarta,
(prúðr skalk enn í óði)
eitt sinn (á þrek minnask).

Kátr skalk enn, þótt {viðir {teins unda}} ætli skaldi aldrán; jǫrn taka at orna oss at beinum. Hverr seggr deyr eitt sinn, en, svarri, snart hjarta [e]s skapat dreng; prúðr skalk enn minnask á þrek í óði.

I’ll still be cheerful, although {the trees {of the wounds’ rod}} [SWORD > WARRIORS] intend to rob the poet of his life; the irons begin to warm us [me] to the bones. Every man dies some time, but, lady, a valiant heart has been given to the young warrior; brave, I shall yet again commemorate deeds of courage in poetry.

Mss: H(87r), Hr(60va) (H-Hr); 5(49va), 219(1va), papp4ˣ, 392ˣ(147v) (JBp)

Readings: [1] skalk (‘skal ek’): skal 219;    þótt: þó papp4ˣ, 392ˣ    [2] aldrán: aldrtjón 5, aldr rán 219, papp4ˣ, 392ˣ;    viðir: ‘gora’ 219, ‘giora’ papp4ˣ, 392ˣ;    skaldi: skjaldar 5    [4] at: á 219;    beinum: beini Hr, papp4ˣ, 392ˣ    [5] en: so Hr, 5, hinn H, papp4ˣ, enn 219, 392ˣ    [6] dreng: drengs 5, papp4ˣ, 392ˣ    [7] prúðr: brúðr Hr, fróðr papp4ˣ, 392ˣ;    skalk (‘skal ek’): vil ek 219    [8] þrek: þat 5, 219

Editions: Skj AI, 444, Skj BI, 413, Skald I, 204, NN §§2270, 2990 Anm.; ÍF 3, 336-7 (GíslIll ch. 4), Fms 7, 35 (Mberf ch. 18); Biskupa sögur 1858-78, I, 222, JBp 2003, 64, ÍF 15, 320-1.

Context: Gísl has been imprisoned by King Magnús berfœttr Óláfsson for the slaying of Magnús’s retainer, Gjafvaldr. He is awaiting execution and recites this st. to his Icel. compatriots (c. 1096).

Notes: [All]: Gísl is able to escape from the execution through the intervention of Jón Ǫgmundarson, later bishop of Hólar. — [2] viðir ‘the trees’: Gera ‘do, inflict’ (so 219, papp4ˣ, 392ˣ) is a lectio facilior which leaves the kenning viðir teins unda ‘the trees of the wounds’ rod’ (ll. 2, 4) without a base-word. — [5] svarri ‘lady’: For such apostrophes to unknown women, see Note to Hharð Gamv 3/1. — [6] dreng (m. dat. sg.) ‘to the young warrior’: For the different meanings of this word, see LP: drengr and Goetting 2006. The noun is an i-stem (no ending in the dat. sg.). Drengs (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the young warrior’ (so 5, papp4ˣ, 392ˣ) is also a possible reading. — [7] prúðr ‘brave’: Fróðr ‘wise’ (so papp4ˣ, 392ˣ) is metrically possible, but secondary and makes little sense in the context. — [8] eitt sinn ‘some time’: Could also go with the last cl. (so Skj B), but the phrase hverr seggr deyr eitt sinn ‘every man dies some time’ seems to be a commonplace (see NN §2270; Þjǫk Lv l. 8^IV).

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. ÍF 3 = Borgfirðinga sǫgur. Ed. Sigurður Nordal and Guðni Jónsson. 1938.
8. ÍF 15-17 = Biskupa sögur. Ed. Sigurgeir Steingrímsson, Ólafur Halldórsson and Peter G. Foote (15), Ásdís Egilsdóttir (16), Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir (17). 1998-2003.
9. JBp 2003 = Foote, Peter G., ed. 2003. Jóns saga Hólabyskups ens helga. EA A 14. Copenhagen: Reitzel.
10. Goetting, Lauren. 2006. ‘Þegn and drengr in the Viking Age’. SS 78, 375-404.
11. Biskupa sögur 1858-78 = Jón Sigurðsson and Guðbrandur Vigfússon, eds. 1858-78. Biskupa sögur. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Möller.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Gísls þáttr Illugasonar’ 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=124> (accessed 19 April 2024)
14. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘(Biography of) Magnús berfœttr Óláfsson’ 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. 385-90.
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ 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=144> (accessed 19 April 2024)
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Gamanvísur 3’ 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. 38.