Gamlkan Has 51^VII

Því lét seggja sveitar
sinn postola finna
— raun lýsir þat — ræsir
ríkr óstyrkðir slíkar,
at bæri mun meiri
malmrunnum várkunnir,
menn þótt misgǫrt vinni,
margfríðr skǫrungr síðan.

Því lét {ríkr ræsir {sveitar seggja}} postola sinn finna slíkar óstyrkðir — raun lýsir þat —, at margfríðr skǫrungr bæri síðan mun meiri várkunnir {malmrunnum}, þótt menn vinni misgǫrt.

For this reason {the powerful king {of the company of men}} [MANKIND > = God (= Christ)] caused his Apostle to feel such weaknesses — experience shows that —, so that the very beautiful leader should later have considerably greater compassion for {sword-trees} [WARRIORS], even though men commit sins.

Mss: B(13r), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [4] óstyrkðir: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘os[...]kter’ B    [5] meiri: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]eire’ B    [8] skǫrungr: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]rungr’ B

Editions: Skj AI, 569, Skj BI, 561, Skald I, 272; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 29, Kempff 1867, 15, Rydberg 1907, 29, Jón Helgason 1935-6, 252, Black 1971, 265, Attwood 1996a, 234.

Notes: [3] raun lýsir þat ‘experience shows that’: Cf. 43/3, where the intercalated phrase is raun finna þess ‘[men] gain experience of that’. — [7] vinni (3rd pers. pl. pres. subj.) ‘commit’: Skj B emends to ynni, 3rd pers. pl. pret subj., but the pres. tense makes good sense here. — [8] margfríðr skǫrungr ‘the very beautiful leader’: The Apostle Peter. Cf. Geisl 26/2, where S. Óláfr is described as margfríðr jǫfurr ‘very beautiful prince’. Given that the two ll. are remarkably similar – Geisli has margfríðr jǫfurr síðan –, and that margfríðr is not otherwise attested in ON poetry or prose, it is possible that Gamli is borrowing from Einarr Skúlason here.

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. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
5. Black, Elizabeth L. 1971. ‘Harmsól: an edition’. B. Litt. thesis. University of Oxford.
6. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Jón Helgason. 1935-6. ‘Til skjaldedigtningen’. APS 10, 250-64.
8. Kempff, Hjalmar, ed. 1867. Kaniken Gamles ‘Harmsól’ (Sol i Sorgen): isländskt andligt qväde från medeltiden med öfversättning och förklaringar. Uppsala: Edquist & Berglund.
9. 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.
10. Internal references
11. 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.
12. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 26’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 27-8.