Gripla - 2020, Qupperneq 217

GRIPLA216
izes that he must flee from his enemies after having stayed at Ingjaldr’s for
three winters. The content of the stanza fits rather well with its context
in the saga. The stanza runs as follows, with variants, prose order and
translation:54
Ráðs leitar nú rítar
ruðr – vekjum mjǫð Suðra –,
skorð, þvít skiljask verðum,
skjaldsteins, frá Ingjaldi.
Þó munk, hyrs, at hvǫ́ru
hafa, bláfoldar skafla
snyrtigǫ́tt, né sýtik,
snauð, þats mér verðr auðit.
mjǫð] mjǫk B; skjald-] skáld s; hyrs] hlys B, hlyrs M; ­gǫ́tt] ­lát B;
snauð, þats] snúð þanns s; verðr] verð s, er B
Rítar ruðr leitar nú ráðs, skorð skjaldsteins, þvít verðum skiljask frá
Ingjaldi; vekjum mjǫð Suðra. Þó munk at hvǫŕu hafa, þats mér verðr
auðit, snauð bláfoldar skafla hyrs snyrtigǫ́tt. Né sýtik.
The shield’s shoot [warrior = Gísli] now looks for a plan, prop
of ‘shield-colour’ [= baugr ‘ring’] [woman], because we [I] must
part from Ingjaldr; we [I] stir the mead of Suðri [poetry]. Yet I
will nonetheless accept what is fated for me, poor blue-land’s crest’s
fire’s adorned door [sea > wave > gold > woman]. Nor do I
complain.
This stanza attests what “menn hafa mælt” (see above, p. 209), namely,
that Ingjaldr was in fact important to Gísli. The skald mentions Ingjaldr
by name, and he includes a meta-comment that he is “stirring the mead of
Suðri”, that is, the mead of poetry or the poem itself. Apparently, Gísli has
had ample opportunity to make use of his skaldic gift during the years he
has stayed at Ingjaldr’s, and his poetry has probably found resonance in the
household of the Egðir. In this context, one should attach importance to
the fact mentioned in both Landnámabók and Þorskfirðinga saga (but not
54 Once again, the normalization of the stanza as well as the translation are my own, but I have
been guided by Kari Ellen Gade’s forthcoming edition of Gísli’s poetry for skP. Compare
also Vestfirðinga sǫgur, ed. Björn K. Þórólfsson and Guðni Jónsson, 82.