[3] gœðik ‘I benefit’: Gœða is derived from góðr and means lit. ‘to make good’, hence normally ‘enrich, endow, benefit’. The precise sense here is uncertain but could be that Óláfr’s grieving men are cheered by the poem (so Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B; LP: gœða, and cf. Sigv Lv 20/7-8 for their mourning) or honoured by its content, especially the praise of Óláfr’s miraculous powers (so ÍF 27). It is also possible that the ‘servants’ of the dead king are Christian priests whose promotion of Óláfr’s cult is aided by Sigvatr’s poem.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
- Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Internal references
- R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 20’ 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. 725.