Anon Gyð 5^VII

Fyrr þraut aura errins
ielmeiðs fetilþielar
óðs en örleik gæðis
odda regns við þegna.
Alsnauður varð eyðir
örvi mestr á lesti
lýsibliks til lykta
lands skævaðar branda.

Aura {{{fetilþielar} iel}meiðs errins} þraut fyrr en örleik {gæðis {óðs regns odda}} við þegna. {Eyðir {lýsibliks {lands {skævaðar branda}}}}, örvi mestr, varð til lykta á lesti alsnauður.

The money {of the brave tree {of the storm {of the strap-file}}} [(lit. ‘of the strap-file’s brave storm-tree’) SWORD > BATTLE > WARRIOR] came to an end sooner than the generosity {of the strengthener {of the furious rain of sword-points}} [BATTLE > WARRIOR] towards men. {The destroyer {of the bright flash {of the land {of the high-strider <horse> of planks}}}} [SHIP > SEA > GOLD > GENEROUS MAN], excelling in generosity, eventually became in the end completely impoverished.

Mss: B(14v), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [1] þraut: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘þra[...]’ B, ‘þrau[...]’ BRydberg, BFJ    [4] þegna: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]gna’ B, BRydberg, BFJ    [5] Alsnauður varð: ‘alsna[...]r[...]d’ B, ‘alsnaudr vard’ 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, BFJ    [6] lesti: so 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘les[...]i’ B    [8] lands skævaðar: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘l[...]ndz skeu[...]d[...]’ B, ‘l[...]nndz skeuadar’ BRydberg, BFJ

Editions: Skj AII, 540, Skj BII, 598, Skald II, 331, NN §§1850, 2980; Rydberg 1907, 42, 59, Attwood 1996a, 347.

Notes: [5] alsnauður ‘completely impoverished’: Without the svarabhakti vowel, l. 5 is a syllable short, so the desyllabified adj. is metrically necessary. Kock (NN §2981) objects to Skj B’s normalisation to alsnauður on the grounds that similar forms are not found elsewhere in Gyð (but see Note to 7/1). He suggests that the metre be regularized by inserting þá ‘then’ after varð. We are not, however, in any doubt as to the timescale of the rich man’s descent into penury, since the poet (whose ambitious man-kenning is straining his versification) tells us twice: á lesti ‘eventually’ (l. 6) and til lykta ‘in the end’ (l. 7). Kock’s emendation would thus introduce a semantically redundant form here. — [8] skævaðar ‘high-strider’: Skævaðr is listed among horse-heiti in Anon Þorgþ I 2/2^III and in Þul Hesta 1/6^III.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
6. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Internal references
8. Katrina Attwood 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Gyðingsvísur’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 515-26. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1012> (accessed 16 April 2024)
9. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Þorgrímsþula I 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 672.
10. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hesta heiti 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. 935.