R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 6’ 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. 706.
Nú sitt heill, en hallar
hér finnumk meir þinnar
at, unz enn kømk vitja,
Ôleifr konungr, mála.
Skald biðr hins, at haldi
hjalmdrífu viðr lífi
— endisk leyfð — ok landi
— lýkk vísu nú — þvísa.
Nú sitt heill, Ôleifr konungr, unz kømk enn vitja mála, en finnumk meir hér at hallar þinnar. Skald biðr hins, at {viðr {hjalmdrífu}} haldi lífi ok þvísa landi; leyfð endisk; lýkk vísu nú.
Now sit in good health, King Óláfr, until I come again to claim fulfilment of [our] agreement, and we shall meet again here at your hall. The poet asks this, that {the tree {of the helmet-storm}} [BATTLE > WARRIOR] may keep hold of life and this land; the praise ends; I close my verse now.
Mss: Holm2(25v), R686ˣ(49r), 972ˣ(176va), J2ˣ(160r), 325VI(16vb), 75a(14va), 73aˣ(64r-v), 68(24r-v), 61(94ra), Holm4(17ra), 75c(14v), 325VII(12v), Flat(92vb), Tóm(113r) (ÓH); Kˣ(303r), Bb(152va) (Hkr)
Readings: [1] en: ok 325VI, 75a; hallar: hallir 972ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 73aˣ, hollir 68, 61 [2] finnumk: finnum ok J2ˣ, ‘finumk’ 325VII, finnimk Tóm, finnusk Kˣ; meir: nú 73aˣ, vér 325VII, meir enn Flat [3] at: aptr 73aˣ, 68, 61, áttu Bb; enn: so J2ˣ, om. Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 73aˣ, 68, 61, Holm4, 75c, 325VII, Flat, Kˣ, Bb, er Tóm; kømk (‘ec kem’): so 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 73aˣ, 68, 61, Holm4, 75c, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, Bb, ek kom Holm2, R686ˣ, Kˣ; vitja: vitta 325VII [4] Ôleifr: Óláfs R686ˣ, 972ˣ, Óláf 325VII; konungr: konungs R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, konung 325VII [5] Skald: om. R686ˣ; hins: húns Bb; haldi: haldisk 972ˣ, halda 68, halda corrected from ‘ek halda’ 61 [6] hjalm‑: hring‑ R686ˣ, 972ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 73aˣ, hjǫr Holm4; ‑drífu: so 68, 61, Holm4, Kˣ, ‑drifi Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 75c, Flat, Tóm, Bb, ‑drífr 325VI, 75a, 73aˣ, 325VII; viðr: frǫmu 325VI, 75a, 73aˣ, stafr 61, þú 325VII, gramr Flat, Tóm [7] ok: ór 68, 61, í Tóm, at Bb [8] nú: svá 972ˣ, þar J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a; þvísa: ‘þisa’ R686ˣ
Editions: Skj AI, 267, Skj BI, 247, Skald I, 128, NN §672; Fms 4, 185, Fms 12, 83, ÓH 1853, 80, 271, ÓH 1941, I 198 (ch. 75), Flat 1860-8, II, 113; Hkr 1777-1826, II, 123, VI, 83, Hkr 1868, 307 (ÓHHkr ch. 92), Hkr 1893-1901, II, 169, IV, 129-30, ÍF 27, 134-5, Hkr 1991, I, 345 (ÓHHkr ch. 91); Konráð Gíslason 1892, 36, 175, 231, Jón Skaptason 1983, 189, 317.
Context: At the onset of winter, the poet Sigvatr and two others set out from Borg (Sarpsborg), going east through Markir (Marker) to Gautland (Västergötland). Before he departs, Sigvatr delivers this and the following stanza to King Óláfr.
Notes: [All]: On the purpose of the mission, dated c. 1019 or possibly 1018, see Introduction to Sigv Austv. Finnur Jónsson (1932, 9) had difficulty deciding whether to include this and the following stanza in Sigv Austv. Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 200-2, 205) would include them in that poem, reversing their order and placing them last. — [1-4]: The syntax of the helmingr can be construed in various ways. (a) Finnur Jónsson in Skj B makes an intercalary clause of en … hér finnumk meir ‘and we shall meet here again’, but as Kock (NN §672) points out, this isolates en oddly. (b) Finnur Jónsson (1934a, 39) eventually came to favour the present arrangement, which is also adopted in ÍF 27, Jón Skaptason (1983) and Hkr 1991. At ‘at’ is construed with gen. sg. hallar þinnar ‘your hall’ (cf. LP: at C for further examples of at with gen., though the examples involve genitives referring to persons). The seeming isolation of at in l. 3 is signalled and compensated for by metrical stress on the word. (Finnur Jónsson, 1934a, 39, wonders whether Sigvatr gave at a long vowel as in Norw. åt, since the initial lift should be a heavy syllable.) (c) Kock urges instead that at should be construed with kømk ‘I return’ or ‘I get through’, analogous to at kom ‘came there’ in Anon (TGT) 38/1III. — [1] hallar ‘hall’: See Note to Sigv Austv 16/8. — [4] Ôleifr ‘Óláfr’: On the form of the name, see Note to Sigv Austv 17/2. — [4] mála ‘agreement’: The word is probably gen. sg. of máli m. ‘agreement, contract’ rather than gen. pl. of mál n. ‘speech’ (Finnur Jónsson 1934a, 39), although pl. môl/mál can refer to formal agreements, e.g. in the compounds griðamál, trygðamál, referring to truces (see CVC: grið, tryggð). — [7] leyfð endisk ‘the praise ends’: Presumably ‘praise’ means ‘poem of praise’. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 175) takes endisk to be subj. (and leyfð to mean ‘portion of a poem’), expressing a wish, roughly ‘May this prayer be fulfilled’.
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