ESk Lv 12^III

The helmingr (ESk Lv 12) is found in Orms-Eddu-brot in W (main ms.), which contains a three-page text of Skm not found in any other ms. The first two lines are also given in LaufE (mss 2368ˣ, 743ˣ) and in RE 1665(Ff3), from a LaufE ms. The poet is identified as Einarr in all mss, and the stanza appears to have been part of a lausavísa about a woman.

Hrynja lét in hvíta
hausmjǫll ofan lausa
strind aurriða strandar
stalls af svarðar fjalli.

{In hvíta strind {stalls {aurriða strandar}}} lét {hausmjǫll} hrynja lausa ofan af {fjalli svarðar}.

{The white land {of the resting-place {of the trout of the beach}}} [SERPENT > GOLD > WOMAN] let {the skull’s powder-snow} [HAIR] fall loose down from {the mountain of the scalp} [HEAD].

Mss: W(169) (SnE); 2368ˣ(98), 743ˣ(76v) (LaufE, ll. 1-2)

Readings: [4] svarðar fjalli: ‘[…]’ W

Editions: Skj AI, 484, Skj BI, 456, Skald I, 224; SnE 1848-87, II, 500, III, 183; LaufE 1979, 356.

Context: Hausmjǫll ‘the skull’s powder-snow’ is given as an example of a kenning for ‘hair’.

Notes: [4] af fjalli svarðar ‘from the mountain of the scalp [HEAD]’: Ms. W ends with the word af ‘from’ and fjalli svarðar ‘the mountain of the scalp’ is conjectural. Fjalli (n. dat. sg.) ‘mountain’ is partly secured by the internal rhyme (-all : ‑all-), but aside from the fact that it must be a determinant in a kenning for ‘head’, the preceding word cannot be established with any certainty. Following Sveinbjörn Egilsson, SnE 1848-87, II, 500 suggests the reading skarar fjalli ‘hair’s mountain’ (see ESk Frag 2/4), which is unmetrical (the metre requires a long first syllable in position 3 and skar- is short). Skj B supplies reikar fjalli ‘the parting of the hair’s mountain’ (so also Skald). Both svǫrðr ‘scalp’ and reik ‘parting of the hair’ occur elsewhere in kennings for ‘head’ (see LP: reik; svǫrðr) but, whereas reik is used more commonly as pars pro toto for ‘head’ (see LP: reik 2), svǫrðr is often a determinant in head-kennings, e.g. land svarðar ‘land of the scalp’, stofn svarðar ‘stump of the scalp’, strǫnd svarðar ‘beach of the scalp’; see LP: svǫrðr 1. Svǫrðr also occurs in the two stanzas directly preceding this stanza in W and LaufE (SnSt Lv 7/3, 4 (twice) and Árni Lv 1/8^IV).

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. 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. 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.
6. 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.
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 2 May 2024)
9. Guðrún Nordal (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Lausavísur’ in Guðrún Nordal (ed.), Poetry on Icelandic History. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 4. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1378> (accessed 2 May 2024)
10. Not published: do not cite (Árni Lv 1^IV)
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Lausavísur 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. 175.
12. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Fragments 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 153.
13. (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 2 May 2024)