Note to Sigv Vestv 3I
[7, 8] dælla es, fundr ‘it is easier, a meeting’: LP: dæll notes the expression dælla es ‘it is easier, better’, and ÍF 27, ÍF 29 suggest the sense líklegra er, vera má ‘it is more likely, it can be’. As dælla is the n. nom. sg. form of the comp. adj., it cannot directly qualify the m. noun fundr, but rather qualifies the unexpressed subject of es, ‘it’ in the English translation (cf. also Sigv Lv 15/7). For a similar, though not identical, quasi-adverbial usage of dælla, see Fritzner: dælla adv. What sort of a meeting is meant by fundr, and between whom, is not clear, and deliberate ambiguity cannot be ruled out. Bjarni Einarsson in ÍF 29 thinks it refers to the impending battle, though why this should be more likely if the king gets away is not clear. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson in ÍF 27 suggests it is between the poet and the king, which at least fits with the more personal tone of l. 3.
References
- Bibliography
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
- ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
- ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
- Internal references
- R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 15’ 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. 717.