Note to Sigv Nesv 12I
[2, 4] þótt lið konungs væri minna ‘although the king’s force was less’: While it seems to be stated here that the king had lower numbers than Sveinn, st. 6 claims that mildr fekk meira lið an gløggr ‘the generous one [Óláfr] gained a greater force than the mean one [Sveinn]’. This has been seen as an internal contradiction on Sigvatr’s part. It is notable that Fsk and ÓH-Hkr do not include st. 6, and the reason may well be that the redactors detected a discrepancy (Fidjestøl 1997b, 15). Numerous attempts at harmonisation have been made in modern scholarship (e.g. Johnsen 1916, 35; Schreiner 1926, 106; Schreiner 1927, 418; Schreiner 1929, 86; van Eeden 1945b, 128; Petersen 1946, 48; and Fidjestøl 1997b). There is, however, no contradiction if ‘more’ means that Óláfr had more men than Sveinn had overall and ‘fewer’ means that Óláfr received fewer men than originally pledged, thanks to the people of Trøndelag having defaulted on their oaths (cf. st. 13; see Poole 2005d, 189-92).
References
- Bibliography
- Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1997b. ‘“Meira lið eða minna?” Ein merknad til Nesjavísur’. Nordica Bergensia 14, 15-19.
- Eeden, W. van. 1945b. ‘Een Opmerking over Sigvatr Þórðarson’s Nesjavísur str. 11’. Neophilologus 30, 128.
- Johnsen, Oscar Albert. 1916. Olav Haraldssons ungdom indtil slaget ved Nesjar. Kristiania [Oslo]: Dybwad.
- Petersen, Sven Aage. 1946. Vikinger og vikingeaand: Sighvat Thordssøn og hans skjaldskab. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
- Poole, Russell. 2005d. ‘The Nesjavísur of Sigvatr Þórðarson’. MS 15, 171-98.
- Schreiner, Johan. 1926. Tradisjon og saga om Olav den hellige. Oslo: Dybwad.
- Schreiner, Johan. 1927. ‘Studier til Olav den helliges historie’. HT(N) 27 (5 ser. 6), 403-57.
- Schreiner, Johan. 1929. Olav den hellige og Norges samling. Oslo: Steen.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=4> (accessed 23 April 2024)
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=53> (accessed 23 April 2024)
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=56> (accessed 23 April 2024)