Gamlkan Has 13^VII

Létk í ljós fyr gautum
láðs nǫkkurar dáðir
laxa fróns, en leyndak
lǫskum þôtt, sem máttak,
seggja kind at sýndisk,
(setrs) þokka mun betri,
(vísi hár) an værak
(vel kunnum því, sunnu).

Létk nǫkkurar dáðir í ljós fyr {gautum {fróns {laxa láðs}}}, en leyndak lǫskum þôtt sem máttak, at sýndisk {seggja kind} þokka mun betri an værak; vel kunnum því, {hár vísi {setrs sunnu}}.

I allowed certain deeds to come to light before {the men {of the land {of the land of the salmon}}} [SEA > GOLD > MEN], but I concealed my weaknesses as best I could, so that I should appear {to the race of men} [MANKIND] a great deal better than I was; we were [I was] well pleased with that, {high king {of the seat of the sun}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God].

Mss: B(12v), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [3] leyndak (‘ek leynda’): so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]k ley[...]da’ B    [7] vísi: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘v[...]’ B;    værak: væri B

Editions: Skj AI, 564, Skj BI, 551, Skald I, 267, NN §§2926, 2930; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 17, Kempff 1867, 4, Rydberg 1907, 22, Jón Helgason 1935-6, 255, Black 1971, 172, Attwood 1996a, 225.

Notes: [3] laxa fróns en leyndak: B’s reading produces an irregular skothending fróns : leynda. That fróns may be an interpolation is suggested by the context, since the gold-kenning frón laxa láðs ‘land of the salmon of the land’, is somewhat clumsy and repetitious. Jón Helgason (1935-6, 255) suggested emendation of fróns to brands gen. sg. of brandr ‘fire, flame’. This emendation gives a -nd : -nd rhyme and makes for a more conventional gold-kenning, gautar brands láðs laxa ‘men of the fire of the land of the salmon’. — [5-8]: There have been several attempts to interpret the second helmingr. This edn follows Finnur Jónsson in Skj B. Finnur emended væri (l. 7) to værak, and construed at sýndisk seggja kind þokka mun betri an værak, which he translated (jeg skulte min efterladenhed, sem jeg kunde,) for at jeg skulde syndes betydelig bedre end jeg var ‘[I covered my negligence as well as I could,] so that I might appear considerably better than I was’. Jón Helgason (1935-6, 255) retained væri (l. 7), taking seggja kind as the subject, translating jeg var fornøyet med at menneskene vilde synes betydelig bedre end de var, himlens høje kong ‘I was pleased that men wanted to appear considerably better than they were, high king of heaven’. Kock (NN §2930), perhaps following Kempff and Sveinbjörn Egilsson, objects to seggja kind as the subject, and interprets the helmingr in much the same way as Finnur does. — [6-8] hár vísi setrs sunnu ‘high king of the seat of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Cf. the God-kennings harri setrs sunnu ‘ruler of the seat of the sun’ in 49/5-8 and siklingr setrs sunnu ‘prince of the seat of the sun’ in Leið 13/7-8.

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. 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. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
6. Black, Elizabeth L. 1971. ‘Harmsól: an edition’. B. Litt. thesis. University of Oxford.
7. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Jón Helgason. 1935-6. ‘Til skjaldedigtningen’. APS 10, 250-64.
9. Kempff, Hjalmar, ed. 1867. Kaniken Gamles ‘Harmsól’ (Sol i Sorgen): isländskt andligt qväde från medeltiden med öfversättning och förklaringar. Uppsala: Edquist & Berglund.
10. Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1844. Fjøgur gømul kvæði. Boðsrit til að hlusta á þá opinberu yfirheyrslu í Bessastaða Skóla þann 22-29 mai 1844. Viðeyar Klaustri: prentuð af Helga Helgasyni, á kostnað Bessastaða Skóla. Bessastaðir: Helgi Helgason.
11. Internal references
12. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Gautreks saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 241. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=9> (accessed 19 April 2024)
13. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 13’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 152-3.
14. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 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. 732.
15. Not published: do not cite ()