Skírnir - 01.09.1991, Page 121

SKÍRNIR
SKARLATSBÚINN VÆRINGI
383
Earl’s Skald. He was just now returned from Constantinople, where he
had served several years in the corps of the Værings [...] on account of his
genius as a poet for he composed verses not only in the Danish tongue but
also in Greek, he had been in high favor with the Emperor Alexios and the
Princess Anna. Well read in the poets, orators and philosophers of Greece
and having, while in Constantinople for a time attended the lectures of a
Rhetor and Philosopher, he had a vast deal more of intellectual wealth
than those around him. He was a christian indeed but not of the estab-
lished church of Greece: this was evident [...] from a very fanciful figure
with a bird’s head wrought of beaten gold, which he wore suspended
about his neck in a chain of the same metall; this figure [...] plainly
indicated the Gnostic. The mystical tenets of this sect were better relished
by the young northern Scald than the pure doctrines of Christianity, for in
this system of belief much greater latitude was allowed for imagination. It
did not require a total abandonment of Thor and Odin with whose
marvells and wunderful exploits the youthful mind had been richly stored.
Here too was a place for Zeus, Hermes, Ares and Aphrodite whose
acquaintance he had made through Homer and Aschylos. This was also
the sect of which his Constantinopolitan master was a follower, a most
accommodating sect which enlarged the moral and religious views of the
votives without eradicating any prejudice or sweeping away any favorite
superstition or fable. The person was now called upon to explain the
mythical figures and Inscription on Brestir’s golden horn.
Sá maður sem svo var ávarpaður skar sig úr bæði fyrir sakir klæðaburðar
og yfirbragðs alls. Efnin í klæðum hans voru mun dýrari en í klæðum
annarra nærstaddra, höfðingjar ekki frátaldir. Hann var í kyrtli úr
skarlatsrauðu silki utan yfir hvíta flík úr sama efni, ríkulega gulldregna.
Hár hans og skegg var vandlega snyrt og liðaðist hárið í fögrum lokkum
langt niður á axlir. Jafnvel liðirnir í skegginu virtust bera þess merki að
listíengi hefði komið til liðs við náttúruna. Hann hafði afar tæra og
hljómfagra rödd; í máli hans gætti þeirrar æðri fágunar sem stafaði af öllu
fari þessa manns: hann var mælskur vel og þótt hann hefði hófstilltari
talsmáta og ástríðuminni en félagar hans var hlýtt á hann af meiri eftirtekt.
Það var tungutak hans og orðsnilld ásamt viðeigandi hljómfalli, marg-
breytilegu en þó ekki tilgerðarlegu, sem virtist halda áheyrendum hans
föngnum. Þegar hann lauk sundur munni sló þögn á hópinn því allir virtust
hrífast af máli hans. Þessi maður var Islendingurinn Þorleifur sem síðar
fékk viðurnefnið jarlaskdld. Hann var nýkominn úr Miklagarði, þar sem
hann hafði verið með væringjum í nokkur ár [...] því hann var skáldmæltur
með afbrigðum og orti ekki aðeins á dönsku heldur einnig á grísku. Hann
hafði verið í miklum metum hjá Alexios keisara og Onnu prinsessu. Þar eð
hann hafði lesið grísku ljóðskáldin, mælskusnillingana og heimspekingana
auk þess sem hann hafði setið fyrirlestra kennimanns og heimspekings í