Refr Þorst 1^III

Grjótaldar ték gildi
geðreinar Þórsteini;
berg-Mœra glymr bára;
biðk lýða kyn hlýða.

Ték Þórsteini {gildi {geðreinar} {grjótaldar}}; {bára {berg-Mœra}} glymr; biðk {kyn lýða} hlýða.

I offer Þorsteinn {the drink {of the mind-land} [BREAST] {of the rock-people}} [GIANTS > POEM]; {the wave {of the mountain-Mœrir <people of Mœrr>}} [GIANTS > POEM] resounds; I ask {the kindred of men} [PEOPLE] to listen.

Mss: R(21v), Tˣ(21v), W(46), U(27r), B(4r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] ték: rær R, tér Tˣ, W, B, tel ek U    [2] geð‑: goð‑ B    [3] berg‑Mœra: ‘ber[…]ra’ U    [4] lýða: so all others, lýða þá R

Editions: Skj AI, 320, Skj BI, 296, Skald I, 150; SnE 1848-87, I, 246-7, II, 306, 521, III, 11, SnE 1931, 92, SnE 1998, I, 12.

Context: The helmingr is cited in SnE (Skm) among stanzas exemplifying kennings for ‘poetry’.

Notes: [1] ték ‘I offer’: The emendation, which is in keeping with earlier eds, is necessary here because, though most of the other readings point to tér ‘you offer/he offers’ rather than rœr ‘you row/he rows’ (so R), neither makes sense in this context. — [1-2] gildi geðreinar grjótaldar ‘the drink of the mind-land [BREAST] of the rock-people [GIANTS > POEM]’: Gildi means ‘feast, banquet’, but it is taken here as a variation for ‘drink’. To the poem-kenning gildi grjótaldar ‘the drink of the rock-people’, which could stand on its own, Refr adds geðreinar ‘of the mind-land [BREAST]’. Such an addition only makes sense, however, with poem-kennings whose determinant is Óðinn, because Óðinn carried the mead of poetry out of the land of giants in his breast. The additional word, which does not fit here, indicates that a blending of the two kenning types ‘drink of giants’ and ‘liquid of Óðinn’s breast’ has occurred. — [3] bára berg-Mœra glymr ‘the wave of the mountain-Mœrir <people of Mœrr> [GIANTS > POEM] resounds’: The metaphor of the recitation of the poem as the rush of a wave of the mead of poetry is strongly reminiscent of the opening stanzas of Vellekla (Eskál Vell 1-4^I).

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
5. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
6. Internal references
7. 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].
8. (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 2 May 2024)
9. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 1’ 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. 283.