R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 24’ 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. 729.
(not checked:)
3. hár (adj.; °-van; compar. hǽrri, superl. hǽstr): high
[1] hô : hlæja: On the hending without consonant rhyme, see Note to Sigv Austv 6/5. The line resembles Anon Liðs 5/1.
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
(not checked:)
hlæja (verb): laugh
[1] hô : hlæja: On the hending without consonant rhyme, see Note to Sigv Austv 6/5. The line resembles Anon Liðs 5/1.
(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too
(not checked:)
Noregr (noun m.): Norway
(not checked:)
allr (adj.): all
(not checked:)
fyrr (adv.): before, sooner
[3] vask fyrr kenndr á knǫrrum ‘I was once recognized on ships’: This line seems to be a claim on the skald’s part that he was a recognized and valued retainer of the king. Alternatively, the import could be a plaintive ‘I sail no longer’. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 191) suggested that this responds to the question, ‘Do you know all of Norway?’ and implies ‘I have sailed so much on the seas about Norway that I know very well what this country looks like, seen from the sea’ (similarly Flo 1902, 110).
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
[3] vask fyrr kenndr á knǫrrum ‘I was once recognized on ships’: This line seems to be a claim on the skald’s part that he was a recognized and valued retainer of the king. Alternatively, the import could be a plaintive ‘I sail no longer’. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 191) suggested that this responds to the question, ‘Do you know all of Norway?’ and implies ‘I have sailed so much on the seas about Norway that I know very well what this country looks like, seen from the sea’ (similarly Flo 1902, 110).
(not checked:)
kenna (verb): know, teach
[3] vask fyrr kenndr á knǫrrum ‘I was once recognized on ships’: This line seems to be a claim on the skald’s part that he was a recognized and valued retainer of the king. Alternatively, the import could be a plaintive ‘I sail no longer’. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 191) suggested that this responds to the question, ‘Do you know all of Norway?’ and implies ‘I have sailed so much on the seas about Norway that I know very well what this country looks like, seen from the sea’ (similarly Flo 1902, 110).
(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at
[3] vask fyrr kenndr á knǫrrum ‘I was once recognized on ships’: This line seems to be a claim on the skald’s part that he was a recognized and valued retainer of the king. Alternatively, the import could be a plaintive ‘I sail no longer’. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 191) suggested that this responds to the question, ‘Do you know all of Norway?’ and implies ‘I have sailed so much on the seas about Norway that I know very well what this country looks like, seen from the sea’ (similarly Flo 1902, 110).
(not checked:)
knǫrr (noun m.; °knarrar, dat. knerri; knerrir, acc. knǫrru/knerri): (a kind of) ship
[3] knǫrrum: knerri F
[3] vask fyrr kenndr á knǫrrum ‘I was once recognized on ships’: This line seems to be a claim on the skald’s part that he was a recognized and valued retainer of the king. Alternatively, the import could be a plaintive ‘I sail no longer’. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 191) suggested that this responds to the question, ‘Do you know all of Norway?’ and implies ‘I have sailed so much on the seas about Norway that I know very well what this country looks like, seen from the sea’ (similarly Flo 1902, 110).
(not checked:)
klif (noun n.; °-s; -): cliff
(not checked:)
meðan (conj.): while
(not checked:)
lifa (verb): live
(not checked:)
nú (adv.): now
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
(not checked:)
mikill (adj.; °mikinn): great, large
(not checked:)
minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my
(not checked:)
2. stríð (noun n.; °-s; -): affliction
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
[6] es svá (‘er sva’): vera F, er þat J2ˣ, E, 761bˣ
(not checked:)
jǫfurr (noun m.): ruler, prince
(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be
[7] varðk alla (‘varð ec alla’): kann ek illa F
[7] varðk ‘I have lost’: Such is the usual meaning of verða with an acc. object (as in Lv 20/6). Finnur (Skj B, similarly Hallberg 1975, 163) here assigns the opposite meaning, ‘I gained’; see LP: verða 10, criticised by Kock (NN §1934C) but defended by Turville-Petre (1976, 86-7, with references).
(not checked:)
óblíðr (adj.): unpleasant
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Sigvatr is ill content at home (see Context to Lv 23). One day he goes out and speaks this stanza.
The attribution of the poet’s feelings to the natural environment (the ‘pathetic fallacy’) is notable: see Guðrún Nordal et al. (1992-2006, I, 220).
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.