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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Steinn Frag 1III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Steinn Herdísarson, Fragment 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 388.

Steinn HerdísarsonFragment1

Hás kveðk helgan ræsi
heimtjalds at brag þeima
— mærð ræzk framm — an fyrða
fyrr, þvít hann es dýrri.

Kveðk {helgan ræsi {hás heimtjalds}} fyrr an fyrða at þeima brag, þvít hann es dýrri; mærð ræzk framm.

I summon {the holy ruler {of the high world-tent}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God] rather than people to this poem, because he is more precious; praise is put in motion.

Mss: R(26r), Tˣ(26v), W(56), U(29r), B(5r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] ræsi: ‘reisi’ Tˣ    [3] mærð: so all others, meið R;    ræzk: ‘rekz’ Tˣ, ‘tiez’ W, telsk U, B

Editions: Skj AI, 409, Skj BI, 379, Skald I, 188, NN §2041; SnE 1848-87, I, 318-19, II, 314, 527, III, 49, SnE 1931, 114, SnE 1998, I, 35.

Context: Heimtjald ‘world-tent’ is given in Skm among the kennings for ‘heaven’.

Notes: [1, 2] kveðk ... at ‘I summon … to’: This formula occurs elsewhere in the opening stanzas of encomia (e.g. Mark Eirdr 1/1II and Anon Mlag 1/1, 2II). — [3] mærð ‘praise’: So all other mss. The R variant, meið m. acc. sg. ‘tree’, must be a scribal error. — [3] ræzk framm ‘is put in motion’: For this meaning of ráðask, see Fritzner: ráða 11-12. The variant telsk ‘is enumerated’ (so U, B) is also possible and preferred in Skj B and Skald (see also LP: telja 2). — [3] fyrða (m. acc. pl.) ‘people’: Skj B takes this word as a gen. pl. attributive to an implicit ræsi ‘ruler’ (cf. l. 1): fyrr an fyrða translated as för end mændenes ‘rather than peoples’ [ruler]’. This makes little sense in terms of context because the poem was apparently composed in praise of a human magnate and recited before its recipient (see NN §2041). — [4]: For the aðalhending on ‑yrr : ‑ýrr-, see the General Introduction in SkP I, xlix.

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. 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. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
  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. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
  11. Internal references
  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 29 March 2024)
  13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Poem about Magnús lagabœtir 1’ 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. 810.
  14. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 1’ 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. 433-4.
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