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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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ESk Geisl 1VII

Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 1’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 7.

Einarr SkúlasonGeisli
12

Eins má óð ok bœnir
— alls ráðanda ins snjalla
vels fróðr, sás getr góða —
guðs þrenning mér kenna.
Gǫfugt ljós boðar geisli
gunnǫflugr miskunnar
— ágætan býðk ítrum
Óláfi brag — sólar,

Þrenning eins guðs má kenna mér óð ok bœnir; vels fróðr, sás getr góða {ins snjalla ráðanda alls}. {Gunnǫflugr geisli {sólar miskunnar}} boðar gǫfugt ljós — býðk ágætan brag ítrum Óláfi

The Trinity of one God can teach me poetry and prayers; he is indeed wise who gets the goodwill {of the eloquent ruler of all} [= God]. {The battle-strong beam {of the sun of mercy}} [= God > = Christ/Óláfr] proclaims a splendid light — I offer the excellent poem to glorious Óláfr —,

Mss: Flat(2ra), Bb(117ra); A(7v), W(110) (TGT, ll. 1-4)

Readings: [1] óð: so Bb, A, orð Flat, W    [2] ráðanda: valdanda Bb, kjósanda A, W;    snjalla: ljósa A, W    [3] vels (‘vel er’): mjǫk er Bb, A, ‘mi[...]’ W;    góða: greiða Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 459, Skj BI, 427, Skald I, 211, NN §924; Flat 1860-8, I, 1, Cederschiöld 1873, 1, Chase 2005, 51, 123-5; TGT 1884-6, I, 112-13, TGT 1998, 228-9.

Context: Lines 1-4 of st. 1 are cited by Óláfr Þórðarson in TGT (c. 1250) in illustration of the rhetorical figure of parenthesis, which Óláfr defines as ‘the interruption of a sentence by an interpolated clause’ and (referring to Einarr’s st.) ‘here a second clause is interpolated and brought to a conclusion, before the first clause is ended’. He says that this figure always occurs in the verse-type that ‘we’ call stælt ‘inlaid’ or álagsháttr ‘extension form’, both terms Snorri Sturluson employs in Ht (SnE 1999, 10 and 16).

Notes: [All]: In the reading of sts 1-2 offered here, st. 2 is syntactically in apposition to sólar (gen. sg.) ‘of the sun’ of 1/8, and the two sts (to 2/4) thus constitute a single complex sentence interspersed with intercalary clauses. — [1] óð ‘poetry’: From the point of view of meaning, orð ‘words’ is as good a reading as óð ‘poetry’, but óð assonates nicely with the syllables containing vowel + <ð> in ll. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7. — [2] ráðanda ‘ruler’: Is preferable to valdanda ‘having the power to control’ and kjósanda ‘choosing, deciding’, which has fatalistic overtones, inappropriate in a Christian context (cf. Vsp 20/10). Ráðanda makes it clear that God is ruling, rather than merely asserting that God is all-powerful, and it is commonly used of God in theological texts. — [4] þrenning ‘Trinity’: An appropriate opening, given that the Trondheim cathedral, in which Einarr delivered his drápa, was dedicated to the Holy Trinity (see Louis-Jensen 1977, 148). — [5, 6, 8] gunnǫflugr geisli sólar miskunnar ‘the battle-strong beam of the sun of mercy’: This kenning has as its referent both Christ and Óláfr. God is the sun and Christ its sunbeam, but the poet also identifies Óláfr with Christ through a process of typology developed in sts 1-6 (see further Chase 2003 and 2005, 21-7 and 124).

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. Cederschiöld, Gustaf J. Chr., ed. 1873b. ‘Bandamanna saga’. Acta Universitatis Lundensis 10.
  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. Cederschiöld, Gustaf J. Chr., ed. 1873a. Geisli eða Óláfs Drápa ens Helga er Einarr orti Skúlason: efter ‘Bergsboken’ utgifven. Acta Universitatis Lundensis 10. Lund: Berling.
  7. Chase, Martin. 2003. ‘Framir kynnask vátta mál: The Christian Background of Einarr Skúlason’s Geisli’. In Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir et al. 2003, 11-32.
  8. Chase, Martin, ed. 2005. Einarr Skúlason’s Geisli. A Critical Edition. Toronto Old Norse and Icelandic Studies 1. Toronto, Buffalo and London: Toronto University Press.
  9. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
  10. Louis-Jensen, Jonna. 1977. Kongesagastudier: Kompilationen Hulda-Hrokkinskinna. BA 32. Copenhagen: Reitzel.
  11. TGT 1998 = Krömmelbein, Thomas, ed. and trans. 1998. Dritte grammatische Abhandlung. Studia nordica 3. Oslo: Novus.
  12. Internal references
  13. (forthcoming), ‘ Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson, The Third Grammatical Treatise’ in Tarrin Wills (ed.), The Third Grammatical Treatise. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=32> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Háttatal’ 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=165> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  15. Not published: do not cite ()
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