Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Fragments 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 156.
The helmingr (ESk Frag 5) must have belonged to an encomium honouring a king of Norway, and Jón Sigurðsson (SnE 1848-87, III, 357) assigned it to Einarr’s panegyric about the sons of Haraldr gillikristr (ESk HarsonkvII). The helmingr is preserved in mss R, Tˣ, W, U, A and C of Skm (SnE), as well as in LaufE (mss 2368ˣ, 743ˣ) and in RE 1665(Ll), the latter of which has no independent value. Ms. U is the only ms. which contains all four lines, and it is therefore the main ms. The poet’s name is given as Einarr (without patronymic) in all mss of SnE and in 2368ˣ (it is omitted in 743ˣ).
Leyg rýðr ætt á ægi
Óláfs skipa sólar
(ylgr brunar hvatt) ins helga
(hrægjǫrn í spor ǫrnum).
{Ætt ins helga Óláfs} rýðr {leyg {sólar skipa}} á ægi; hrægjǫrn ylgr brunar hvatt í spor ǫrnum.
{The kinsman of the holy Óláfr} [NORWEGIAN KING] reddens {the flame {of the ships’ sun}} [SHIELD > SWORD] at sea; the corpse-eager she-wolf rushes fast in the track of eagles.
Mss: U(33r), R(34r) (ll. 1-2), Tˣ(35v) (ll. 1-2), W(77) (ll. 1-2), A(11r) (ll. 1-2), C(5v) (ll. 1-2) (SnE); 2368ˣ(132), 743ˣ(99r) (LaufE, ll. 1-2)
Readings: [1] Leyg: so R, Tˣ, W, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ, leygr U, A, C; rýðr: ríðr C; ætt: ‘eit’ Tˣ, ‘att’ A; á: at C [2] Óláfs: Óláfr Tˣ
Editions: Skj AI, 480, Skj BI, 452, Skald I, 222, NN §2539; SnE 1848-87, I, 424-5, II, 329, 439, 589, III, 79-80, SnE 1931, 151, SnE 1998, I, 69; LaufE 1979, 397.
Context: Sól skipa ‘sun of ships’ is given as one of many kennings for ‘shield’ in Skm and LaufE.
Notes: [1, 2, 3] ætt ins helga Óláfs ‘the kinsman of the holy Óláfr [NORWEGIAN KING]’: ‘The holy Óláfr’ is S. Óláfr Haraldsson (d. 29 August 1030). The identity of this particular kinsman is not clear. Einarr did compose a poem about S. Óláfr (ESk GeislVII), but none of the other kings of Norway whom Einarr honoured with panegyrics was a direct descendant of Óláfr, because Óláfr’s only son, Magnús inn góði ‘the Good’ (d. 1047), only left behind a daughter, Ragnhildr. Subsequent kings of Norway were descendants of Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-rule’ Sigurðarson (r. 1046-66), Óláfr’s half-brother. — [3] hvatt ‘fast’: This adv. could modify rýðr ‘reddens’ in the first clause (so Skj B). That construction is, however, less likely because the syntactic caesura falls after positions 1 or 3 in A-lines of this type (see NN §2539; Gade 1995a, 150-5).
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.