Anon Mhkv 27^III

Gullormr á sér brennheitt ból;
bjartast skínn í heiði sól;
undrum þykkir gagnsætt gler;
glymjandi fellr hrǫnn of sker.
Allar girnask ár í sjá;
ekki er manni verra en þrá;
fýsa munk ins fyrra vara;
flestr mun sik til nǫkkurs spara.

Gullormr á sér brennheitt ból; sól skínn bjartast í heiði; gler þykkir undrum gagnsætt; hrǫnn fellr glymjandi of sker. Allar ár girnask í sjá; ekki er manni verra en þrá; munk fýsa ins fyrra vara; flestr mun spara sik til nǫkkurs.

The gold-serpent has for itself a burning-hot den; the sun shines brightest in a cloudless sky; glass seems wondrously transparent; the wave falls roaring over the skerry. All rivers yearn to run to the sea; nothing is worse for a man than longing; I shall urge prior caution; most men will save themselves for something.

Mss: R(55r)

Readings: [2] bjartast: ‘bialltað’ R    [7] ins: enn R

Editions: Skj AII, 135-6, Skj BII, 144-5, Skald II, 77-8; Möbius 1874, 11, Wisén 1886-9, I, 76.

Notes: [1]: Cf. ESk Geisl 41/4^VII ból dreka ‘dwelling of the dragon [GOLD]’. The kenning alludes to the dragon Fáfnir and his hoard (Skm, SnE 1998, I, 47): gullit er kallat ból eða bygð Fáfnis ‘gold is called the lair or dwelling of Fáfnir’. — [1] brennheitt ‘burning-hot’: The adj. is attested only once more in poetry, in ESk Geisl 35/6^VII, where it refers to oven-baked bread. The image here suggests gold glowing like hot fire. — [2] bjartast ‘brightest’: Emendation by Jón Sigurðsson (Möbius 1874, 11 n.). Cf. Alain de Lille, Liber parabolarum, 33-4: clarior est solito, post maxima nubila, Phebus ‘the sun is usually more brilliant after many clouds’; the conclusion: ‘after quarrels, love too is more radiant’. — [2] í heiði ‘in a cloudless sky’: Möbius (1874, 40, 66) has heiðr f. ‘heath’ (corrected by Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, II 142). Cf. Gamlkan Has 14/7-8^VII hyrr heiðs ‘fire of the clear sky [SUN]’. — [3] undrum ‘wondrously’: Dat. pl. used adverbially. The adv. is rare in poetry, but cf. SnSt Ht 4/7. — [3] gler ‘glass’: The word is infrequent in verse, but see Anon Lil 33/3^VII on the image of the incarnation as a ray of sunlight shining through glass. — [5]: Cf. Eccles 1.7: omnia flumina intrant in mare ‘all rivers run to the sea’. See also ÚlfrU Húsdr 12/1, 3 and Sveinn Frag ll. 1, 4.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
4. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
5. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
6. Möbius, Theodor. 1874. ‘Malshatta-kvædi’. ZDP Ergänzungsband, 3-73, 615-16.
7. Internal references
8. (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 1 May 2024)
9. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 35’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 35-6.
10. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 41’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 41.
11. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 33’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 601-2.
12. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 14’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 86-7.
13. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Sveinn, Fragment’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 397. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3312> (accessed 1 May 2024)
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1108.
15. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Úlfr Uggason, Húsdrápa 12’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 424.