ESk Geisl 48^VII

Missti maðr, es lýsti,
— morginn vas þá — borgar
styrks mundriða steindrar
styrsnjallr roðins galla.
Nýtr gat séð á sléttri
seimþiggjandi liggja
grundu gylðis kindar
gómsparra sér fjarri.

Styrsnjallr maðr missti {styrks, roðins galla {steindrar borgar mundriða}}, es lýsti; morginn vas þá. {Nýtr seimþiggjandi} gat séð {gómsparra gylðis kindar} liggja fjarri sér á sléttri grundu.

The battle-bold man missed {the strong, reddened destruction {of the stained stronghold of the sword-hilt}} [SHIELD > SWORD] when it grew light; it was morning then. {The useful gold-receiver} [MAN] was able to see {the gum-spar of the wolf’s offspring} [SWORD] lying far from him on the flat ground.

Mss: Flat(2rb), Bb(118ra)

Readings: [3] steindrar: so Bb, steindra Flat    [4] styrsnjallr: so Bb, styrs bráðr Flat;    roðins: so Bb, regins Flat;    galla: so Bb, ‘vꜳda’ Flat    [5] Nýtr gat séð: Þátti sinn Bb    [6] ‑þiggjandi: ‑þiggjandr Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 468, Skj BI, 439, Skald I, 216; Flat 1860-8, I, 5, Cederschiöld 1873, 7, Chase 2005, 98, 155-6.

Notes: [1-4]: There is a considerable disparity between Flat’s and Bb’s texts of the first helmingr, but Bb’s must be preferred as Flat’s ll. 3-4 are ungrammatical as they stand and the sword-kenning possible in these ll. is unsatisfactory. One would have to read styrks steindrar mundriða borgar Regins váða ‘(the man missed) the strong sword hilt of the fortress of Reginn’s peril [SWORD > SHIELD > SWORD]’, with Bb’s steindrar for Flat’s steindra (gen. pl.), understanding mundriði (lit. ‘that which causes the hand to move quickly’) as a metonym for a sword. Borgar Regins váða would provide both a sword- and a shield-kenning. According to the Vǫlsung legends, the dwarf Reginn made his foster son Sigurðr a powerful sword named Gramr, with which Sigurðr killed the dragon Fáfnir and later Reginn himself. ‘Reginn’s peril’ would thus be a kenning for sword; its fortress is the shield. The mundriði of the shield is in turn another sword-kenning. But this is not very plausible, and Bb’s reading of ll. 3-4 is better on several counts, even though galla (l. 4; nom. galli), which normally means ‘defect, fault’ has to be taken in the more abstract sense of ‘destruction’. — [4] styrsnjallr ‘battle-bold’: Bb’s reading styrsnjallr ‘battle-bold’ is preferred here to Flat’s styrs bráðr ‘battle-quick’ and is also adopted by Skj B and Skald. Both mss’ readings (-snjallr : gall- and bráðr : váð-) provide aðalhending. — [7-8] gómsparra gylðis kindar ‘the gum-spar of the wolf’s offspring [GOLD]’: An allusion to a story told in the Gylf section of SnE (1982, 29): the Æsir fended off the wolf Fenrir by wedging a sword between his gaping jaws. This is the only such sword-kenning in skaldic poetry.

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. 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. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Internal references
9. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ 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=113> (accessed 24 April 2024)