the country. Usually, these stanzas are placed after the
successful war against Haraldr in accordance with the
historical accounts of Heimskringla and Fagrskinna.
However, considering the present tense used in these
stanzas, they could also be regarded as a praise of the
earl’s rule at the moment when the drápa was written,
and therefore placed just before the concluding praise
of the sovereign.
Thus far, no satisfactory explanations of the title of
the poem, Vellekla, meaning “shortage of gold,” have
been found. Either it expresses the poet’s hopes for a
reward from the sovereign (but in the preserved stanzas
this theme takes no more space than is usual in panegy-
rics), or it could be an ironic allusion to some unknown
situation. There is a third possibilty: Vellekla could be
part of a kenning for the sovereign (e.g., “remover of
shortage of gold”).
It is also somewhat diffi cult to date the poem. Suppos-
ing that the stanzas about the battle of the Jómsvíkingar
were part of the original poem, it must be dated in the
years after 985. In this case, chronological problems
arise concerning the episodes related in Egils saga,
but this objection may not prove serious, because these
episodes are partly typical skaldic anecdotes whose
content is historically doubtful. If the contested stanzas
do not belong to the poem, it must be dated to the years
after 975.
In Vellekla, Einarr skálaglamm proves to be a remark-
able artist. He creates a brilliant poem by the sophistica-
tion of his language and metrics, especially by extensive
and ingenious kennings, which he intended to equal the
glory of his sovereign.
Vellekla is also important as evidence of the late Old
Norse pagan religion. It shows the connection between
political power and religion in the concept of the sov-
ereign who is guided by the god, and who reintroduces
the old cults that are the fundamental condition of the
prosperity of the country. A literary allusion to V ̨oluspá
suggests that the poet wanted to praise Earl Hákon’s
rule as comparable to that of the god Baldr, who returns
after Ragnarok. ̨
Further Reading
Editions
Finnur Jónsson, ed. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. Vols.
1A–2A (tekst efter håndskrifterne) and lB–2B(rettet tekst).
Copenhagen and Christiania [Oslo]: Gyldendal, 1912–15; rpt.
Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1967(A) and 1973(B),
vol. lA, pp. 122–31, 1B, pp. 117–24.
Lindquist, lvar, ed. Norröna lovkväden från 800– och 900– talen.
- Förslag till restituerad täxt jämte översättning. Lund: Gle-
erup, 1929, pp. 44–55.
Kock, Ernst A., ed. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols.
Lund: Gleerup, 1946–50, vol. 1, pp. 66–9.
Translations
Hollander, Lee M., trans. The Skalds: A Selection of Their Poems.
New York: American-Scandinavian Foundation; Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1945.
Literature
Björn M. Ólsen. “Skýring.” Árbók hins Íslenzka fornleifafélags
(1882), 154–6.
Konráð Gíslason. Forelæsninger over oldnorske Skjaldekvad.
Efterladte Skrifter, 1. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1895.
Patzig, H. “Die Abfassung von Einars Vellekla.” Zeitschrift
für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur 67 (1930),
55–65.
Indrebø, Gustav. “Fylke og fylkesnamn.” Bergens Museums
Årbok, Hist. -ant. rekke nr. 1 (1931), 43–4.
Finnur Jónsson. Tekstkritiske Bemærkninger til Skjaldekvad.
Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Historisk-fi lologiske Med-
delelser, 20.2. Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard, 1934.
Oben, Magnus. “Eldste Forekomst av Navnet Hlaðir (Velleka
14).” Maal og minne (1941), 154–6.
Turville-Petre, E. O. G. Scaldic Poetry. Oxford: Clarendon,
1976, pp. 59–63.
Edith MaroldEINARR SKÚLASON (12th century)
Einarr Skúlason was the most prolifi c skald of the 12th
century. He was a favorite of Snorri Sturluson, who
in his Snorra Edda and Heimskringla quotes twice as
many verses from Einarr as from any other skald. In the
surviving corpus of skaldic poetry, Einarr’s verses are
outnumbered only by those of Sighvatr Þórðarson.
Little is known of Einarr’s life. He was a member of
the Kveld-Úlfr family and, as a descendant of Skalla-
Grímr, was a kinsman of Egill Skalla-Grímsson, Snorri,
and Óláfr Þórðarson. The date and place of his birth are
obscure, but he was probably born in the last decade of
the 11th century in the area around the Borgarfjörður. By
1114, he was in Norway with King Sigurðr Jórsalafari
(“crusader”) Magnússon; Þinga saga reports that he
was used as a messenger in a series of disputes between
the king and Sigurðr Hranason that occurred between
1112 and 1114. Morkinskinna tells another anecdote
concerning Einarr and Sigurðr Jórsalafari that took place
when Sigurðr was awaiting the arrival of King Haraldr
Gilli Magnússon in Norway, around 1124, although this
passage may be an unreliable interpolation. We know
that Einarr was with Haraldr Magnússon sometime
during his reign (1130–1136), because he composed
two poems in honor of Haraldr, and Skáldatal reports
that he composed a poem (now lost) for Magnús blindi
(“blind”) Sigurðarson, who shared the rule with Haraldr
from 1130 to 1135. By 1143, he was back in Iceland;
his name appears in a list of priests in the west country
compiled in that year. The position of his name in the
list suggests that he lived in the Borgarfjörður district,
probably at Borg. It is not clear where Einarr received his
clerical education. The schools at Skálholt, Haukadalr,EINARR HELGASON SKÁLAGLAMM