Anon (Ólkyrr) 2II
Kari Ellen Gade and Diana Whaley (eds) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Óláfs saga kyrra 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 825.
introduction
This st. (Anon (Ólkyrr) 2) is recorded in Mork (Mork), H, Hr (H-Hr) as well as in the interpolated Hkr mss F, E, J2ˣ and 42ˣ. Mork is partly damaged, and H is the main ms. The metre is fornyrðislag.
text and translation
Segr vetrgǫmul, — veit ekki sú —
ok tvévetr segr, — trúik eigi at heldr —
en þrévetr segr, — þykkira mér glíkligt —
kveðr mik róa á merar hǫfði,
en þik, konungr, þjóf míns féar!
Vetrgǫmul segr—sú veit ekki—, ok tvévetr segr—trúik eigi at heldr—, en þrévetr segr—þykkira mér glíkligt—, kveðr mik róa á hǫfði merar, en þik, konungr, þjóf féar míns!
‘The one-year-old says—she knows nothing—, and the two-year-old says—I don’t believe it either—, but the three-year-old says—it doesn’t seem likely to me—, she claims I’m rocking on a mare’s head, and that you, king, are the thief of my property!’
notes and context
King Óláfr puts a farmer to the test to find out whether he can divine birds’ talk. He cuts the head off the farmer’s mare, wraps it, puts it on his ship and seats the farmer on top of the bundle. Three crows fly over the ship cawing, and the king asks the farmer what they say. The farmer replies with this st.
This episode is very much out of keeping with what we know about the character of Óláfr kyrri from prose and poetic sources, and the tenor of the st. itself is profoundly sceptical and anti-royal. It is possible that the anecdote derives from echoes of the Dan. tradition about King Óláfr Tryggvason of Norway (r. 995-1000). According to Saxo (2005, I, 10, 11, 6, pp. 648-9), Óláfr, despite his baptism and conversion to Christianity, was beholden to sooth-sayers who helped him divine the future, and Adam of Bremen (ed. Schmeidler 1917, 101) tells us that Óláfr relied on the prognostication of birds, which earned him the nickname Craccabben ‘Crows’ Bones’.
readings
- [1] vetrgǫmul: ‘vetrgo[…]’ Mork
- [2] veit: ‘[…]it’ Mork
- [2] ekki: eigi J2ˣ, 42ˣ
- [3] ok: om. F, 42ˣ
- [3] tvévetr segr: segr tvévetr F
- [3] segr: om. Hr
- [4] at heldr: om. 42ˣ
- [4] at: því Hr
- [5] en: en ef Hr, om. E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ
- [6] þykkira: so Mork, F, E, J2ˣ, þykkjat H, Hr, þykki 42ˣ
- [6] glíkligt: so Mork, líkligt H, F, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, líkara Hr
sources
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
-
AM 66 fol (H) — 80v/11 - 80v/11
Segr vetrgǫmul,
images
— veit ekki sú —
ok tvévetr segr,
— trúik eigi at heldr —
en þrévetr segr,
— þykkjat mér líkligt —
kveðr mik róa
á merar hǫfði,
en þik, konungr,
þjóf míns féar! -
GKS 1010 fol (Hr) — 56vb/9 - 56vb/9
Segr vetrgǫmul,
images
— veit ekki sú —
ok tvévetr ,
— trúik eigi því heldr —
en ef þrévetr segr,
— þykkjat mér líkara —
kveðr mik róa
á merar hǫfði,
en þik, konungr,
þjóf míns féar! -
GKS 1009 fol (Mork) — 21r/13 - 21r/13
Segr †vetrgo[…]†,
images
— †[…]it† ekki sú —
ok tvévetr segr,
— trúik eigi at heldr —
en þrévetr segr,
— þykkira mér glíkligt —
kveðr mik róa
á merar hǫfði,
en þik, konungr,
þjóf míns féar! -
AM 45 fol (F) — 56va/1 - 56va/4
imagesSegr vetrgǫmul,
— veit ekki sú —
segr tvévetr ,
— trúik eigi at heldr —
en þrévetr segr,
— þykkira mér líkligt —
kveðr mik róa
á merar hǫfði,
en þik, konungr,
þjóf míns féar!Segir vetr | gomvl veít ecki sv segir tvęvetr trvi ek eigi at helldr eɴ | þrevetr segir þickira mer likligt qveþr míg roa a merar hof | ði eɴ þig konungr þíof mins fíar·
(VEÞ)
-
AM 47 fol (E) — 30v/9 - 30v/11
Segr vetrgǫmul,
images
— veit ekki sú —
ok tvévetr segr,
— trúik eigi at heldr —
þrévetr segr,
— þykkira mér líkligt —
kveðr mik róa
á merar hǫfði,
en þik, konungr,
þjóf míns féar! -
AM 38 folx (J2x) — 303v/22 - 303v/31
Segr vetrgǫmul,
images
— veit eigi sú —
ok tvévetr segr,
— trúik eigi at heldr —
þrévetr segr,
— þykkira mér líkligt —
kveðr mik róa
á merar hǫfði,
en þik, konungr,
þjóf míns féar! -
AM 42 folx (42x) — 5v/8 - 5v/8
Segr vetrgǫmul,
images
— veit eigi sú —
tvévetr segr,
— trúik eigi —
þrévetr segr,
— þykki mér líkligt —
kveðr mik róa
á merar hǫfði,
en þik, konungr,
þjóf míns féar! -
AM 761 b 4°x (761bx) — 542r/2 - 542r/9
images
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