Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Flokkr about Erlingr Skjálgsson 5’ 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. 636.
Ǫndurða bað, jarðar,
Erlingr, sás vel lengi
geymði lystr, — né lamðisk
landvǫrn — klóask ǫrnu,
þás hann at sig sǫnnum
— sá vas áðr búinn ráða
ats — við Útstein hizi
Ôleif of tók môlum.
Erlingr, sás lystr geymði lengi jarðar vel — né lamðisk landvǫrn —, bað ǫrnu klóask ǫndurða, þás hann of tók Ôleif sǫnnum môlum at sig hizi við Útstein; sá vas áðr búinn ráða ats.
Erlingr, who, joyful, ruled the land well for a long time — his defence of territory did not fail — said eagles should fight face to face, when he addressed Óláfr with true words after the battle there by Utstein; he was previously ready to carry out the attack.
Mss: Kˣ(432r) (Hkr); Holm2(57v-58r), J2ˣ(208v), 321ˣ(217), 73aˣ(178v), 68(57v), Holm4(55va), 61(116va), 325V(68vb), 325VII(31v), Bb(189ra), Flat(119ra), Tóm(146v) (ÓH)
Readings: [1] Ǫndurða: ǫndverða 73aˣ, Holm4, 61, 325V, Flat, Tóm, ‘Anverþa’ 325VII [2] sás (‘sa er’): sá 325V [3] lystr: halr 61; né: né hér Bb; lamðisk: ek lasta J2ˣ, hamðisk 61 [4] land‑: hand 61; ‑vǫrn: ‑vǫrðr Bb; klóask: klóar 321ˣ [5] hann: snjallr corrected from ‘þniallr’ Bb; at: und 321ˣ, 73aˣ, á Bb; sig: sik Holm2, J2ˣ, 73aˣ, 68, Holm4, svik 61, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm; sǫnnum: sǫnnu 61, Bb, Flat, Tóm [6, 7] áðr búinn ráða ats: ‘[…]’ Holm4 [6] búinn: munuð 61, numinn Bb, Flat, unninn Tóm [7] ats: snjallr 61, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm; hizi: hizig 321ˣ, illra 61, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Tóm, illa Flat [8] Ôleif: Óláfr J2ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 61, 325V, 325VII, ‘O.’ Tóm; of tók (‘um toc’): ok tók J2ˣ, 73aˣ, 61, Tóm, ‘vm […]’ Holm4, tekit Flat; môlum: ‘malo’ Holm2, ‘[…]’ Holm4
Editions: Skj AI, 245, Skj BI, 229, Skald I, 119, NN §2475; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 406, IV, 156, ÍF 27, 316-17, Hkr 1991, II, 484 (ÓHHkr ch. 176); ÓH 1941, I, 484 (ch. 172), Flat 1860-8, II, 310; Jón Skaptason 1983, 117, 264.
Context: King Óláfr comes face to face with Erlingr and speaks to him.
Notes: [1, 4] bað ǫrnu klóask ǫndurða ‘said eagles should fight face to face’: Eagles, with ravens and wolves, are ‘beasts of battle’ traditionally alluded to in skaldic verse as consumers of carrion rather than fighters (cf. st. 1/2, 4), but here the image is rather of two opponents of equally high status. For a comparable use of haukr ‘hawk’, see Note to Arn Hryn 3/5II. — [2] Erlingr: Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, II; Skj B) prints Erlengr, presumably to improve the aðalhending with lengi. This form is not found in any mss, though some of them abbreviate the name, making the vowel uncertain. — [5-8]: (a) Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B) proposed that this helmingr contained the phrase ráðasǫnnum môlum, separated by tmesis, translating indholdssande ord ‘words with true content’, though ráðasannr does not appear in LP and it is not clear what the first element adds to the meaning. (b) Kock (NN §2475) proposed the interpretation followed here, on the grounds of the common occurrence in skaldic verse of a clause contained within one line and the first, monosyllabic, word of the following line. Sigvatr uses a similar construction in Víkv 6/2-3, 11/3-4, Vestv 6/3-4 and (with a disyllable in the following line) in st. 7/7-8 below. — [6-7] búinn ráða ats ‘ready to carry out the attack’: More literally, ‘ready for the actions of attack’. Ráða here is not the verb ‘decide, rule etc.’, which does not normally take a gen. object, but rather the gen. pl. of ráð n. which, in the sense ‘plan, action’ (LP: ráð 2), often appears in the pl. Búinn takes the gen. in this type of phrase. — [7] við Útstein ‘by Utstein’: Útsteinn is also named in BjHall Kálffl 2/4. It is on the island now called Klosterøy, just east of a line between Bokn and Tunge (see Note to st. 3/2-4), and approximately halfway between them. It appears to have been one of the royal farms of Haraldr hárfagri ‘Fair-hair’ (see Þhorn Harkv 9/4 and ÍF 26, 143) and was later the site of an Augustinian monastery. — [7] hizi ‘there’: The adv., or its variant hizig, occurs in three further contexts where the site of a sea-battle is named (LP: hizig). — [8] of tók ... môlum ‘addressed ... with ... words’: Cf., e.g., Þfagr Sveinn 9/6II es tókusk orðum ‘when they began to exchange words’. Of here is the expletive particle.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.