Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 18’ 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. 447-8.
Blóði dreif á randgarð rauðan;
rógs hegnir drap ótal þegna;
framði sik, þars folkvôpn glumðu,
fylkir ungr, en brynjur sprungu.
Blóði dreif á rauðan randgarð; {hegnir rógs} drap ótal þegna; ungr fylkir framði sik, þars folkvôpn glumðu, en brynjur sprungu.
Blood splattered onto the red shield-wall; {the punisher of discord} [JUST RULER] killed an untold number of men; the young ruler distinguished himself where battle-weapons resounded and mail-coats sprang apart.
Mss: JÓ(154), 873ˣ(51v), 20b I(8r), 180b(30r) (Knýtl)
Readings: [1] Blóði dreif á randgarð rauðan: ‘Blod[…]’ 20b I; Blóði: blóðit 180b; rand‑: rauð‑ 180b [2] rógs hegnir drap ótal þegna: ‘[…]’ 20b I [3] framði sik: ‘[…]’ 20b I; þars (‘þar er’): ‘[…]’ 20b I; glumðu: ‘glu[…]’ 20b I [4] fylkir ungr en brynjur sprungu: ‘[…]’ 20b I
Editions: Skj AI, 448, Skj BI, 417, Skald I, 206; JÓ 1741, 154-5, ÍF 35, 224 (ch. 76).
Context: As sts. 14-17 above. St. 18 follows st. 17 without intervening prose.
Notes: [1] randgarð ‘shield-wall’: See also Sturl Hrafn 2/8. Rauð-, the reading of 180b, was probably caused by rauðan in the same l. — [1] blóði (dat. sg.) ‘blood’: The mss of the A-recension retain the impersonal construction, drífa ‘splatter’ with dat.; blóðit n. nom. sg. ‘the blood’, the reading of 180b, suggests that the scribe interpreted dreif in the meaning ‘drifted’, which need not be impersonal. — [3] folkvôpn ‘battle-weapons’: I.e. axes, swords and spears. For a more detailed description of these weapons, see NGL I, 101. — [3, 4] ungr fylkir framði sik ‘the young ruler distinguished himself’: Echoes Gísl Magnkv 1/1.
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