ESk Lv 13^III

The stanza (ESk Lv 13) is transmitted in FoGT (ms. W; main ms.), in LaufE (mss 2368ˣ, 743ˣ) and in RE 1665(Kk). It is anonymous in FoGT but attributed to Einarr Skúlason in mss 2368ˣ and 743ˣ of LaufE (RE 1665 has Einar Skes qvade ‘Einar ‘Skes’ said’, clearly from a LaufE ms.). Faulkes (LaufE 1979, 169) finds that attribution plausible and suggests that Magnús Ólafsson may have known the stanza from another source besides W (but see TGT 1884, lxxx-lxxxii).

Máni skínn af mœni
moldar hofs of foldir
alla stund, meðan endisk
ævi lands ok sævar.
Veitk félaga fljótum
fróns prýði vel þjóna;
þeim vitu eigi ýtar
auðit lífs né dauða.

Máni skínn af {mœni {hofs moldar}} of foldir alla stund, meðan ævi lands ok sævar endisk. Veitk {prýði fróns} þjóna fljótum félaga vel; ýtar vitu eigi þeim auðit lífs né dauða.

The moon shines from {the roof-ridge {of the temple of the ground}} [SKY > ZENITH] throughout the countries all the time while the life of land and sea endures. I know that {the adorner of the earth} [SUN] serves its swift companion well; people do not know that one has been allotted neither life nor death.

Mss: W(118) (FoGT); 2368ˣ(124), 743ˣ(93v) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] mœni: mœðu all    [7] vitu: vita 2368ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 166, Skj BII, 184, Skald II, 96, NN §2343; SnE 1848-87, II, 242-3, III, 162, FoGT 1884, 148, 292, FoGT 2014, 42-5, 136-7; LaufE 1979, 386.

Context: In FoGT the stanza illustrates the rhetorical device homopatia (SnE 1848-87, II, 240, 242): tveir lutir eru svâ bunnir ok samþykkir, at þat megi segjast annarr gjöra sem annarr gjörir ‘two things are joined together and agree in such a way that it may be said that one does what the other does’. In this particular case, the moon takes on the office of the sun (SnE 1848-87, II, 242): Hèr er túnglinu kent embætti sólarinnar, at skína jafnliga á jörðina, fyrir því er þat hefvir ekki ljós af sèr, heldr af sólinni, ok er dökt þeim megin, sem frá henni horfir, en albjart þat er at henni horfir ‘Here the office of the sun is attributed to the moon, always to shine on the earth, because it does not have light from itself but from the sun, and it is dark on the side that turns away from it [the sun], but completely bright where it turns towards it’. In LaufE the stanza is given in the same context under the heading figura in the section on kennings for ‘sun’, and the surrounding prose is roughly the same as in W.

Notes: [All]: For a more detailed discussion of this stanza and its indebtedness to medieval works on cosmology, see Clunies Ross and Gade (2012). — [1] mœni (m. dat. sg.) ‘the roof-ridge’: Mœðu (f. dat. sg.) ‘weariness’ (so all mss) makes little sense in the context, and the line lacks internal rhyme. The present reading, which restores the rhyme, was first suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SnE 1848-87, II, 242), and it has been adopted by all subsequent eds. — [5] fljótum félaga ‘its swift companion’: The identity of this swift companion is debated. Björn Magnússon Ólsen (FoGT 1884, 292) construed fljótum félaga fróns ‘the swift companion of the earth’, i.e. ‘the moon’, and took prýði (m. acc. sg.) ‘adorner’ (l. 6) as a half-kenning for ‘sun’. Finnur Jónsson (LP: félagi) interpreted fljótum félaga ‘swift companion’ as ‘earth’ and prýði (m. acc. sg.) fróns ‘adorner of the earth’ as ‘moon’. Kock (NN §2343) correctly pointed out that it makes little sense to regard the earth as the moon’s ‘swift companion’. He accordingly emended to fljótan félaga (m. acc. sg.) and took prýði as the f. dat. sg. ‘adornment’ to reverse the imagery: ‘I know that the swift companion (i.e. the moon) serves the adornment of the earth (i.e. the sun) well’. That emendation goes against the ms. witnesses and is unnecessary. The idea that the orbit of the moon is faster than that of the sun is in perfect accordance with ancient and medieval cosmological treatises and with the phenomenon called saltus lunae ‘the moon’s leap’, and Einarr must have been familiar with this concept (see Clunies Ross and Gade 2012, 205-6). — [6] prýði fróns ‘the adorner of the earth [SUN]’: Because the stanza is given in the section of LaufE illustrating kennings for ‘sun’, this is taken as a kenning for ‘sun’ here, and the base-word is the agent noun prýðir ‘adorner’ (see Note to SnSt Ht 27/7). See also the previous Note. — [7-8]: The last clause in the stanza must refer to the fact that the moon gives off no light on its own but takes its light from the sun (see Context above).  This is also an idea that is widely discussed in ancient and medieval writings on cosmology (see Clunies Ross and Gade 2012, 206).

References

1. Bibliography
2. TGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
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.
8. FoGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
9. FoGT 2014 = Clunies Ross, Margaret and Jonas Wellendorf, eds. 2014. The Fourth Grammatical Treatise. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Internal references
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, The Fourth Grammatical Treatise’ 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=34> (accessed 27 April 2024)
12. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘(Biography of) Einarr Skúlason’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 140.
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Lausavísur 13’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 176.
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 27’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1133.
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ 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=10928> (accessed 27 April 2024)