Eldj Lv 1^II

Hví samir hitt at dúsa
hirðmanni geðstirðum?
Vest nú, þótt kjǫl kosti,
knár, riddari inn hári.
Þats satt, at býðk byttu
(breiðhúfuðum) reiða
(austrs til hár í hesti
hvaljarðar) Giffarði.

Hví samir hitt geðstirðum hirðmanni at dúsa? Vest nú knár, inn hári riddari, þótt kjǫl kosti. Þats satt, at býðk Giffarði reiða byttu; austrs til hár í {breiðhúfuðum hesti {hvaljarðar}}.

Why is it fitting for a strong-minded retainer to take it easy? Be active now, hoary knight, although the keel is sorely tried. It’s true that I tell Giffarðr to swing the bucket; the bilge-water is too high in {the broad-hulled horse {of the whale-land}} [SEA > SHIP].

Mss: Mork(23v) (Mork); H(91r-v), Hr(62vb) (H-Hr); F(59ra), E(34v), J2ˣ(312v), 42ˣ(13r); 2368ˣ(130) (ll. 5-8), 743ˣ(98r) (ll. 5-8) (LaufE)

Readings: [3] Vest (‘vestu’): so H, Hr, verðr Mork, ‘verstv’ F, verðu E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ;    þótt: þó Hr    [5] Þats (‘þat er’): hitt er E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ;    at: om. 2368ˣ, 743ˣ    [6] ‑húfuðum: so H, Hr, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ, ‑húfuðu Mork, húfum þér F, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ    [7] í: so H, Hr, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ, of Mork, á F    [8] Giffarði: ‘giparði’ F, 42ˣ, ‘giparðe’ E, ‘Giparðe’ J2ˣ, ‘giafarde’ 2368ˣ, 743ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 437, Skj BI, 407, Skald I, 201, NN §916; Mork 1867, 148, Mork 1928-32, 325, Andersson and Gade 2000, 304, 486 (Mberf); Fms 7, 59 (Mberf ch. 29); F 1871, 273, E 1916, 122 (Mberf); LaufE 1979, 395.

Context: Eldjárn recites this st. on the journey to England to taunt the Norman knight Giffarðr. In LaufE, the second helmingr is used to illustrate that hestr hvaljarðar ‘horse of the whale-land’ is a kenning for ‘ship’.

Notes: [5-8]: The helmingr in LaufE must have been excerpted from a saga about Magnús berfœttr: skip heiter hestur hual jardar, so sem kuad Elldjarn jslendske, j sogu Magnusar kongs ‘a ship is called a horse of the whale-land, as Eldjárn the Icelander said in the saga of King Magnús’ (LaufE 1979, 395). — [6] breiðhúfuðum (m. dat. sg.) ‘broad-hulled’: Hap. leg. Kock (NN §916) takes this adj., which he derives from húfa (f.) ‘cap’ with Giffarði (m. dat. sg.) (l. 8) ‘broad-capped Giffarðr’. For the second element in this cpd (húf- lit. ‘hull’), see Note to Mberf Lv 1/3. — [8]: For Giffarðr, see Notes to Mberf Lv 2/2 and Anon (Mberf) 5/2.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 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. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
7. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
8. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
9. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
10. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=144> (accessed 25 April 2024)
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Magnúss saga berfœtts 5’ 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. 832-3.
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Magnús berfœttr Óláfsson, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 385-6.
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Magnús berfœttr Óláfsson, Lausavísur 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. 386.
16. (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 25 April 2024)