Sigv Knútdr 7I/6 — glæstr ‘splendid’
Knútr vas und himnum.
Hann austan frá,
fríðr fylkis niðr
fráneygr Dana.
Skreið vestan viðr
varrglæstr, sás bar
út andskota
Aðalráðs þaðan.
Knútr vas und himnum … Hann frá austan, fríðr, fráneygr niðr fylkis Dana. Varrglæstr viðr, sás bar andskota Aðalráðs út þaðan, skreið vestan.
Knútr was under the heavens … He learned [news] from the east, the handsome, bright-eyed descendant of the ruler of the Danes [= Sveinn > = Knútr]. The sea-splendid ship which carried the enemy of Æthelred [= Knútr] out from there glided from the west.
readings
[6] ‑glæstr: glæst 61, 325V, hvert FskBˣ, hvert or hverr DG8
notes
[6] varrglæstr ‘sea-splendid’: The mss clearly indicate ‘var’, often writing <v> plus superscript tittle. (a) The first element alliterates and carries strong stress, and is taken in this edn, as in most others, as varr ‘sea’, which combines with glæstr to form a cpd adj. ‘sea-splendid’ qualifying viðr ‘ship’ (so also NN §649, Skald and ÍF 29). In Skj B it is taken with viðr to form, through tmesis, a kenning for ‘ship’. (b) ‘Var’ in the mss is taken as the 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. ‘was’ in ÍF 27, with the normalised spelling var. This produces the short clause var glæstr ‘it [the ship] was spendid’. However, var ‘was’ is less likely to carry strong stress, and the appropriate form for Sigvatr’s time is vas, which would leave the line without aðalhending.