ESk Frag 17^III

This stanza (ESk Frag 17) is found in mss R (ll. 1-2), A, B (and 744ˣ) and C (ll. 1-2) of Skm (SnE). Ms. A, which contains the entire stanza, is the main ms. The full name of the poet (Einarr Skúlason) is given in all mss, but in B he is mistakenly identified as Einarr skálaglamm ‘Tinkle-scales’ (Eskál^I). The stanza describes a sea-voyage, and it may have been part of an encomium or composed under similar circumstances as ESk Lv 8-9, 14-15.

Œsir hvasst at hraustum
Himinglæva þyt sævar
— glymr Unnar vex — grenni
Gǫndlar skúfs ok Dúfa.
Brædd strýkr Blóðughadda
— brimsolgin fellr Kolga —
hlýr, þars Hefring stœrir
haflauðr of við rauðan.

Himinglæva ok Dúfa œsir þyt sævar hvasst at {hraustum grenni {skúfs Gǫndlar}}; glymr Unnar vex. Blóðughadda strýkr brædd hlýr, þars Hefring stœrir haflauðr of rauðan við; Kolga fellr brimsolgin.

Himinglæva and Dúfa violently stir up the howling of the sea against {the valiant feeder {of Gǫndul’s <valkyrie’s> skua}} [RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIOR]; the roar of Unnr increases. Blóðughadda strokes the tarred bows where Hefring increases the sea-foam around the red wood; Kólga falls sea-swollen.

Mss: A(13v), B(6r), 744ˣ(35v), R(38v) (ll. 1-2), C(7v) (ll. 1-2) (SnE)

Readings: [1] at: so R, C, af A, B    [2] þyt: ‘þvt’ R, þýtr C    [3] glymr Unnar: ‘[…]’ B, ‘glýmrunnar’ 744ˣ;    grenni: ‘[…]e’ B, ‘gre᷎nne’ 744ˣ    [4] skúfs: ‘[…]ufs’ B, ‘skufs’ 744ˣ    [7] hlýr þars Hefring stœrir (‘hlyr þar ær hæfring stærir’): ‘[…]’ B, ‘hlýr skilr hefring st u er’ 744ˣ    [8] rauðan: ‘rauða[…]’ B, ‘raudan’ 744ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 482, Skj BI, 454, Skald I, 223; SnE 1848-87, I, 500-1, II, 451, 534, 600, III, 103-4, SnE 1931, 175, SnE 1998, I, 95.

Context: In Skm the stanza is cited because it enumerates the names of six of the nine daughters of Ægir, a sea-giant in Old Norse myth. Ægir is a personification of the sea, and his daughters are the waves.

Notes: [All]: All of the heiti for ‘wave’ found in this stanza are also listed in Þul Waves, and the two stanzas are indeed so similar that it is tempting to suggest that the latter, which is anonymous, may have been composed by Einarr as well. The heiti are also listed in Þul Sjóvar 4 and in the prose of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 36). — [1] œsir ‘stir up’: Lit. ‘stirs up’: The verb is in the sg. but it has a coordinate subject (see NS §70). — [2] Himinglæva: One of Ægir’s daughters, ‘heaven-bright one’ (i.e. reflections of the sky on the surface of the sea). See also Þul Waves l. 3 and Þul Sjóvar 4/4. — [3] Unnar ‘of Unnr’: Unnr means ‘wave’. See also Þul Waves l. 7 and Þul Sjóvar 4/5. — [4] skúfs ‘skua’: An arctic bird of prey (Stercorarius skua). See also Note to Þul Fugla 3/5-6. — [4] Dúfa: The third daughter of Ægir, ‘rocking one’. See also Þul Waves l. 8 and Þul Sjóvar 4/6. — [5] Blóðughadda: This daughter’s name translates as ‘bloody-haired one’. It is not clear why a wave should be bloody-haired, unless it refers to the colour of the sea at sunset. See also Þul Waves l. 6 and Þul Sjóvar 4/8. — [6] Kolga ‘Kólga’: Ægir’s fifth daughter is ‘cool one’. See also Þul Waves l. 7 and Þul Sjóvar 4/3. — [7] Hefring: The sixth and last daughter of Ægir named here is ‘self-lifting one’. See also Þul Waves l. 3 and Þul Sjóvar 4/1. — [8] of rauðan við ‘around the red wood’: Or ‘around the red ship’ if við ‘wood’ is taken as pars pro toto for ‘ship’ (see Note to Frag 16/2 above). This prepositional phrase could also go with the second clause of the helmingr (so Skj B; Skald).

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. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
6. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
7. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
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. 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.
11. Edith Marold 2017, ‘(Biography of) Einarr skálaglamm Helgason’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 137.
12. (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 19 April 2024)
13. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sjóvar heiti 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 836.
14. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Fugla heiti 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 954.
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Lausavísur 8’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 171.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Fragments 17’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 167.
17. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Heiti for waves’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 996. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=2988> (accessed 19 April 2024)