Sigm Lv 1^II

Ér berið aptr, es várar,
orð þau Skǫgul borða
fjallrifs fægiþellu
fleyvangs til Orkneyja,
at engr, þars slǫg sungu,
seggr und kastals veggi,
ár, þótt ellri væri,
ítr drengr framar gengi.

Berið ér aptr, es várar, {fleyvangs} til Orkneyja, þau orð {Skǫgul borða}, {fægiþellu {fjallrifs}}, at engr seggr, ítr drengr, þótt væri ellri, gengi framar und veggi kastals, þars slǫg sungu ár.

Carry back, when it is spring, across {the ship-plain} [SEA] to the Orkneys, these words {to the Skǫgul <valkyrie> of the trimming} [WOMAN], {the polishing fir-tree {of the mountain rib}} [STONE > WOMAN], that no man, splendid fellow, even if he were older, went further forward under the wall of the castle where weapons sang early.

Mss: R702ˣ(47v), Flat(140rb) (Orkn)

Readings: [1] Ér: Þér Flat    [6] kastals: kastala Flat;    veggi: veggjum Flat    [7] ár: eir Flat;    ellri: ‘elldri’ Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 532, Skj BI, 512-13, Skald I, 251, NN §§492, 806, 988, 1853A, 1853H, 2088; Flat 1860-8, II, 482, Orkn 1887, 166, Orkn 1913-16, 241-2, ÍF 34, 217-18 (ch. 87), Bibire 1988, 234.

Context: Chs 86-7 of Orkn describe at length the crusaders’ siege of a castle in Galicia, culminating in an attack on the tenth day of Christmas. Sigmundr is said to have been one of the most eager attackers, always going ahead of Rǫgnvaldr, despite his youth (ÍF 34, 216). For other sts recited on this occasion, see Rv Lv 17-19. Sigmundr’s st. is cited after the last of these, during a lull in the fighting. Afterwards, Sigmundr is said to have entered the defeated castle along with Rǫgnvaldr.

Notes: [All]: The attack is said to have happened on 3 January 1153 (Taylor 1938, 310). — [1-4]: Kock (NN §492) points out that the emendations proposed by Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-8, 608-9) and accepted by Finnur Jónsson in Skj B are unnecessary and that the st. is essentially unproblematic. — [1]: The Flat variant (þér 2nd pers. pl. nom. ‘you’) would leave this l. without alliteration. On the alliterative pattern, see NN §2088. — [2]: Kock (NN § 492) points to the similarity between this l. and KormǪ Lv 56/6^V. — [3] fægiþellu fjallrifs ‘the polishing fir-tree of the mountain rib [STONE > WOMAN]’: Steinn and kennings for ‘stone’ in woman-kennings refer to precious stones (Meissner 414-15). This is an unusual kenning in that, while women are frequently associated with fir-trees and with precious stones, the image of them polishing the latter is less common, though see fægi-Freyja hodda ‘the polishing-Freyja of treasure’ in KormǪ Lv 7/7^V. — [6]: The Flat reading would give too many syllables in this l.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
7. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
8. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
9. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. Bibire, Paul. 1988. ‘The Poetry of Earl Rǫgnvaldr’s Court’. In Crawford 1988, 208-40.
11. Taylor, A. B. 1938. The Orkneyinga Saga: A New Translation with Introduction and Notes. Edinburgh and London: Oliver & Boyd.
12. Orkn 1887 = Gudbrand Vigfusson 1887-94, I.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Orkneyinga saga’ 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=47> (accessed 19 April 2024)
15. Edith Marold (ed.) 2022, ‘Kormáks saga 77 (Kormákr Ǫgmundarson, Lausavísur 56)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1166.
16. Edith Marold (ed.) 2022, ‘Kormáks saga 7 (Kormákr Ǫgmundarson, Lausavísur 7)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1040.
17. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 17’ 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, pp. 595-6.