Ólsv Kristdr 1^III

Heldr vas honum, es seldi,
harðkeypt, — sonu jarðar
oss stillir þat alla —
auðugt líf fyr dauða.

Vas heldr harðkeypt honum, es seldi auðugt líf fyr dauða; þat stillir oss, {alla sonu jarðar}.

It was a very hard bargain for him who sold his precious life in return for death; that regulates us, {all the sons of the earth} [HUMANS].

Mss: 743ˣ(87r), 2368ˣ(114) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] honum: hinn 2368ˣ    [4] auðugt: auðigt 2368ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 85, Skj BII, 96, Skald II, 52, NN §§1332, 2936; SnE 1848-87, II, 629, III, 192-3, LaufE 1979, 372.

Context: The helmingr illustrates kennings for ‘man’ in which the base-word is a term for ‘son’ (sonr, mǫgr) and the determinant is a word either for ‘earth’ or for þeirrar hofudskiepnu, er madur er afskapadur ‘that main element from which man is created’ (LaufE 1979, 372).

Notes: [All]: The present edn follows Skj B. Kock (Skald; NN §1332) emends sonu m. acc. pl. ‘sons’ (l. 2) to sonum m. dat. pl. and construes the phrase sonum jarðar as the indirect object of the second clause (es seldi sonum jarðar auðugt líf fyr dauða  ‘who gave the sons of the earth precious life instead of death’). That emendation is unnecessary and goes against the ms. witnesses. — [1] honum (m. dat. sg.) ‘for him’: The line is unusual because of the resolution on this word in the second lift. The 2368ˣ reading hinn m. nom. sg. ‘that one’ obviates that problem, but hinn does not make sense syntactically and must be a lectio facilior. — [3] stillir ‘regulates’: Taken here in the sense that the death of Christ redeemed mankind, and hence it shapes and regulates the destiny of men. The agent noun stillir ‘controller’ is rather common as a base-word in kennings for ‘God’ (LP: stillir 2). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) translates stillir oss as bringer os … ro ‘gives us … peace’, which is not immediately transparent. In LP: stilla 3 he gives the translation anbringe i en farlig, vanskelig stilling ‘place in a dangerous, difficult position’, which makes little sense in the context. — [4] auðugt ‘precious’: Lit. ‘wealthy’. The 2368ˣ reading auðigt is a variant form and also possible.

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. 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.