Gísla saga Súrssonar 21

Gísli canvasses for support but finds little help. His various hiding places.

1. Þat er nú þessu næst, at Gísli gerir orð mágum sínum,¹ Helga ok Sigurði ok Vestgeiri, at þeir fari til þings ok bjóði sætt fyrir hann, at hann yrði eigi sekr. 2. Ok fara þeir til þings, Bjartmarssynir, ok koma engu áleiðis² um sættina, ok kalla menn, at þeir hafi illa borið sik, svá at þeim hafi næsta í allt skap komit,³ áðr en létti. 3. Þeir segja Þorkeli auðga, hvat títt er, ok kváðuz eigi þora at segja Gísla sekð sína. Urðu þar engi ǫnnur tíðindi á þinginu, en Gísli verðr sekr. Þorkell auðgi ferr þá til fundar við Gísla ok sagði hánum sekð sína. 4. Þá kvað Gísli vísu þessa:⁴

12

Myndet þá
á Þórsnese
meþallok
á minne sǫk,
ef Vésteins
være hjarta
sonom Bjartmars
í brjóst laget.⁵

13

(Þá) glúpnoþo,
es glaþast skyldo,
móþorbrœþr
minnar kvánar,
sem eyþendr
egge være
fjarþar dags
fúlo lostner.⁶

5. {Enn kvað hann:}

14

Luko (þunglig) á þinge,
(þau’ro orþ komen norþan),
sædeilande sólar!
sómlaust á mik dóme;
þar á bláserkjar Berke,
bǫ́ro hreins, ok Steine,
veiter dags ens vegna!
valdr hermela at gjalda.⁷

6. Nú spyrr Gísli, hvers hann skal ván eiga hjá (þeim. Þeir segjask, nafnar báðir, munu skjóta skjóli)⁸ yfir hann, með þeim hætti, at hann léti eigi fé sitt fyrir þá sǫk. Ferr Þorkell heim eftir þetta. 7. Svá er sagt, at Gísli var þrjá vetr í Geirþjófsfirði, en stundum með Þorkeli Eiríkssyni, en aðra þrjá vetr ferr hann um allt Ísland ok hittir hǫfðingja ok biðr sér liðs. 8. En sakir þess trǫllskapar, er Þorgrímr nef hafði haft í seiðinum, ok atkvæða,⁹ þá verðr þess eigi auðit, at hǫfðingjar tœki við hánum, ok þó at stundum þœtti þeim eigi svá ólíkliga¹⁰ horfa, þá bar þó alstaðar nǫkkut við.¹¹ 9. Hann var þó lǫngum með Þorkeli Eiríkssyni, ok hefir hann nú sex vetr verit í sekðinni. Eptir þetta er hann stundum í Geirþjófsfirði á bœ Auðar, en stundum í fylgsnum¹² fyrir norðan ána, er hann hafði gǫrt sér; annat fylgsni átti hann við kleifarnar¹³ suðr frá garði,¹⁴ ok var hann ýmist.¹⁵

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Notes

1: mágum sínum, see c. 4, 6-7; mágar, here “relatives of his wife” (brothers of the mother-in-law). ↩

2: koma engu áleiðis, “do nothing, do not try to fix this.” ↩

3: svá–komit, “so that they almost cried,” which isn’t very manly. ↩

4: vísu þessa, so sing. in all manuscripts. ↩

5: Str. 12, Prose word order: Þá myndet meðallok á minne sǫk á Þórsnese, ef hjarta Vésteins være laget í brjóst sonom Bjartmars.

“Such a bad outcome of my case at Þórsnes would not have happened if Vésteinn’s heart had been inside the breasts of the sons of Bjartmar.”

• meþallok, meþal- in compound words, this devalues the quality of the second element.

Str. 12 and 13 are written in the unusual style, kviðuháttr. ↩

6: Str. 13 Prose word order: Móþorbrœþr kvánar minnar glúpnoþo, es glaþast skyldo, sem eyþendr fjarþar dags være lostner fúlo egge.

“My wife’s uncles lost their courage, while they should have been very happy (and energetic), and they acted as if rotten eggs were thrown at them.”

• glaþast (also in frgmt.), is superl. (not vb. glaþa). eyþendr fjarþar dags, “waste the day (luster) of the sea,” actually, free men; people in general.

• dagr a paraphrase “gold,” is indentical to “light, shine, sun.” ↩

7: Str. 14 Prose word order: Luko sómlaust dóme a mik á þinge, sæsólar deilande! þau þunglig orþ ero komen norþan; þat á valdr blaserkjar hermela at gjalda Berke ok Steine veiter ens vegna hreins bǫ́ro dags.

“They condemned me ingloriously at the thing, no honor! This harsh sentence (came to me from the north, the warrior (me) has this to bitterly avenge Borkr and Steinn, the giver of pure weighed gold (me).)”

• sómlaust, “without glory for her,” as there was no proper advocate.
• sœ-sólar-deilande, sœ (conj. for sal-; also in Vǫluspǫ́ 20 in Hauksbók sœ to sal is corrupted) -sól, “the son of the ocean” = gold (see fjarþar dagr in str. 13).
• dielande, “which deals,” here Þorkell the rich.
• norþan, Þorkell has traveled from his home to Gísli, which is natural in and of itself.
• valdr blá-serkjar, bláserkr is probablz the coat of mail (mistake for bǫðserkjar?); “the owner of the mail coat,” the warrior, here Gísli himself.
• bǫ́ro dagr = fjarþar dagr and sœ-sól. ↩

8: hánum–at skjóta…mun…hann léti, this text is an improvement after the fragment, and to M and S; The two Þorkells travel to Gílsi, but only one is called noble. Even after only Ferr Þorkell. mun refers to hann. ↩

9: atkvœða, “the desires expressed (curses).” ↩

10: ólikliga, “unlikely.” ↩

11: bar–við, “an obstacle came up.” ↩

12: fylgsnum, “hiding place.” ↩

13: kleifar, “rocks where you can climb up.” ↩

14: bœ Auðar–garði, about these locations which play a role in the battle with Gísli, and which play an important role in the saga, accurately describe real conditions. See the interesting and detailed study in Árbók 1883, s. 42-59 with the pictures. The ruins from the settlement of Auðr’s (or Gísli’s) can still be seen. ↩

15: ýmist, “in turns,” now here, now there. ↩