Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Runhenda 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 552.
Víkverjum galt
— varð þannig hallt —
gǫrræði gramr
gjafmildr ok framr.
Flest folk varð hrætt,
áðr fengi sætt,
en gjǫldin jók,
sás gísla tók.
Gramr, gjafmildr ok framr, galt Víkverjum gǫrræði; þannig varð hallt. Flest folk varð hrætt, áðr fengi sætt, en, sás tók gísla, jók gjǫldin.
The ruler, generous and outstanding, repaid the Víkverjar for their unlawful ways; things accordingly went awry. Most people were afraid before they reached a settlement, but he who took hostages increased the payments.
Mss: Mork(35v) (Mork); Kˣ(658r-v), F(73va), E(56v), J2ˣ(355v), 42ˣ(46v) (Hkr); H(124r), Hr(81ra) (H-Hr)
Readings: [1] galt: ‘g[...]’ Hr [2] varð: var Kˣ; þannig: þannug Kˣ, E, J2ˣ, þannveg 42ˣ, Hr; hallt: allt J2ˣ [3] gǫrræði: ‘græddi’ 42ˣ [4] gjaf‑: gjǫf‑ Kˣ, F, H; ‑mildr: so all others, ‑mild Mork [5] varð: var Kˣ, H, Hr [7] en gjǫldin jók: en gísla tók Kˣ, F, Hr, en gíslar tók E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, H [8] sás gísla tók (‘sa er gisla toc’): sás gjǫldin jók all others
Editions: Skj AI, 473, Skj BI, 445-6, Skald I, 219, NN §3107; Mork 1867, 225, Mork 1928-32, 442-3, Andersson and Gade 2000, 390, 494 (Hsona); ÍF 28, 326 (Hsona ch. 19), F 1871, 338, E 1916, 198; Fms 7, 234 (Hsona ch. 19).
Context: Stanzas 2-3 document how Eysteinn put down a rebellion by the people of Viken, Norway.
Notes: [All]: It is not clear why the people of Viken rebelled against Eysteinn, and the surrounding prose is derived from the poetry. — [1] Víkverjum ‘the Víkverjar’: The people of Viken, the areas on both sides of Oslofjorden. — [7-8]: The reading of the other mss, en, sás jók gjǫldin, tók gísla ‘but he who increased the payments, took hostages’ is possible and has been adopted by most previous eds. The prose of Mork reflects the order of events described in the Mork version of the st. (i.e. Eysteinn took hostages and then exacted payments), whereas the prose of Hkr and H-Hr states that Eysteinn first exacted heavy payments and then took hostages. — [7] en ‘but’: Kock (NN §3107; Skald) emends to gǫrt ‘completely’ to achieve double alliteration. That emendation is not supported by the ms. witnesses, and it violates the w. o. in an independent cl. (the finite verb then occurs in syntactic position 3).
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