ESk Frag 6^III

Jón Sigurðsson (SnE 1848-87, III, 355) assigned this half-stanza (ESk Frag 6) to Einarr’s panegyric about Haraldr gillikristr (Hardr I^II; see Introduction to Frag 4 above). It is preserved in mss R (main ms.), Tˣ, U, A, B (and 744ˣ) and C of Skm (SnE), as well as in LaufE (mss 2368ˣ, 743ˣ) and in RE 1665(Ff3) (copied from a LaufE ms.). The poet’s full name is given in SnE, whereas in LaufE the helmingr is attributed to Einarr skálaglamm ‘Tinkle-scales’ Helgason (Eskál^I), who composed the stanza (Eskál Vell 35^I) directly preceding this helmingr.

Dolgskára kná dýrum
dýrr magnandi stýra
— Hugins fermu bregðr harmi
harmr — bliksólar Garmi.

{Dýrr magnandi {dolgskára}} kná stýra {dýrum Garmi {bliksólar}}; {harmr {fermu Hugins}} bregðr harmi.

{The splendid strengthener {of the battle-gull}} [RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIOR] controls {the splendid Garmr <dog> {of the gleam-sun}} [SHIELD > WEAPON]; {the grief {of Huginn’s <raven’s> food}} [CORPSES > RAVEN/EAGLE] puts an end to its grief.

Mss: R(37v-38r), Tˣ(39v), U(40v), A(14r), B(6v), 744ˣ(44v), C(7r) (SnE); 2368ˣ(95), 743ˣ(74v) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] ‑skára: stála U;    kná: kná ek U    [2] magnandi: so Tˣ, A, B, 2368ˣ, magnaði R, C, magnandi at U, ‘magandi’ 743ˣ    [3] Hugins: ‘hugi[…]s’ B, ‘hugins’ 744ˣ, hug með 2368ˣ, hugsins 743ˣ;    fermu: ‘[…]’ B, ‘fermu’ 744ˣ, ‘fernu’ C;    bregðr: berr C    [4] harmr blik‑: ‘har[…]’ B, ‘harmr bli .’ 744ˣ, harmblik C;    harmr: ‘h'nar’ U;    Garmi: ‘[…]’ B, ‘garme’ 744ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 480, Skj BI, 452, Skald I, 223, NN §3102; SnE 1848-87, I, 488-9, II, 353, 456, 543, 597, III, 100, SnE 1931, 172, SnE 1998, I, 91; LaufE 1979, 351.

Context: Huginn is given as a name or heiti for ‘raven’ in both Skm and LaufE.

Notes: [All]: The metre is dunhent ‘echoing-rhymed’, a variant of dróttkvætt characterised by repetition of internal rhymes from the odd lines to the even lines (here -ár- : -ýr- : -ýr-, -erm- : -arm- : -arm-;  see SnSt Ht 24). That metre is also used in Frag 8 below, and it could be that the two stanzas belonged to the same poem. — [3] Hugins ‘of Huginn’s <raven’s>’: Huginn (from hugi or hugr ‘mind’) was one of Óðinn’s ravens in Old Norse myth. See Note to Þul Hrafns 1/2 and Muninn in Frag 7/3 below. — [3] bregðr harmi ‘puts an end to its grief’: The grief of a raven or an eagle is its hunger. — [4] bliksólar ‘of the gleam-sun [SHIELD]’: This is an incomplete kenning for ‘shield’. Finnur Jónsson emends to borðsólar ‘of the gunwale-sun’ (LP: bliksól) or barðsólar ‘of the prow-sun’ (Skj B), i.e. ‘shield’. According to Kock (NN §3102), blik means ‘gold’, and he takes the cpd in the sense ‘the golden sun’ i.e. ‘the shield’. ‘Gold’ never serves as a determinant in kennings for ‘shield’, however (see Meissner 171-7). Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 212) suggests that Garmi bliksólar ‘the Garmr of the shine of the sun’ could have been caused by scribal confusion with Mánagarmr (‘moon-hound’), the wolf that will eventually swallow the moon. It is possible that blik ‘gleam’, which frequently serves as a base-word in kennings for ‘sword’ (see Meissner 150), is used in an absolute meaning ‘sword’ (bliksól ‘sword-sun’ i.e. ‘shield’). — [4] Garmi ‘Garmr <dog>’: Garmr is the dog whose barking foreshadows the end of the world in Old Norse myth (see Vsp 44/1, 49/1, 58/1).

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. 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.
7. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
8. 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.
9. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Internal references
12. 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].
13. 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.
14. (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 23 April 2024)
15. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Einarr Skúlason, Haraldsdrápa I’ 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, pp. 542-4. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1145> (accessed 23 April 2024)
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hrafns heiti 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 945.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Fragments 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 157.
18. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 35’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 327.
19. Not published: do not cite ()
20. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 24’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1130.
21. (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 23 April 2024)