Sigv Ást 1^I

Hrein getum hôla launa
hnossfjǫlð lofi ossu
Ôleifs dœtr, es átti
jǫfurr sigrhvatastr digri.
Þings beið herr á Hǫngrum
hundmargr Svía grundar
austr, es Ástríðr lýsti
Ôleifs sonar môlum.

Getum hôla launa lofi ossu {dœtr Ôleifs}, es sigrhvatastr, digri jǫfurr átti, hrein hnossfjǫlð. Hundmargr herr grundar Svía beið þings á Hǫngrum austr, es Ástríðr lýsti môlum {sonar Ôleifs}.

We [I] will repay splendidly with our [my] praise {Óláfr’s daughter} [= Ástríðr], to whom the most victorious stout prince [Óláfr Haraldsson] was married, for an abundance of bright treasures. A massive army from the land of the Swedes attended the assembly at Hangrar in the east, when Ástríðr proclaimed the cause {of Óláfr’s son} [= Magnús].

Mss: Kˣ(495r), 39(12rb), F(37rb), J2ˣ(239v) (ll. 1-4), E(3r) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] Hrein: hveim J2ˣ, E;    launa: ‘lꜹ’ 39, launat F    [2] lofi: liði F;    ossu: ‘osu’ F, ossa J2ˣ, E    [3] es (‘er’): so J2ˣ, E, sú er Kˣ, 39, F    [4] sigr‑: sig‑ 39, F    [5] Þings: þing E;    Hǫngrum: hungrum 39, F, ‘haumgrom’ E    [7] Ástríðr: ‘astri’ E

Editions: Skj AI, 248, Skj BI, 231, Skald I, 120, NN §2775; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 6, IV, 179, ÍF 28, 5-6, Hkr 1991, II, 558-9 (MGóð ch. 1), F 1871, 169, E 1916, 8; Jón Skaptason 1983, 124, 275-6.

Context: At an assembly in Sweden, the dowager Queen Ástríðr makes a speech to persuade the Swedes to help Magnús Óláfsson gain his kingdom. The three stanzas of Ást are cited without a break.

Notes: [1-2]: The two branches of the Hkr stemma diverge here. (a) The readings of Kˣ, 39 and F, hrein and ossu, are chosen here as in other modern eds, both because they are the reading of the main ms., and because it is most natural for the poss. adj. ossu (n. dat. sg.) ‘our’ to agree with the immediately preceding noun lofi ‘praise’, and for hrein ‘bright, pure’ to be n. acc. pl. agreeing with hnossfjǫlð ‘abundance of treasures’. While the simplex fjǫlð ‘abundance, multitude’ is normally f. sg., Finnur Jónsson assumed a unique instance of a n. pl. form in this cpd (LP: fjǫlð, hnossfjǫlð), and such a form fits the common pattern of alternation between f. sg. and n. pl. in a collective noun (Beito 1954, 95, 180; Janzén 1965, 359). (b) It appears that the scribes of J2^x and E (or of their archetype) made the lines grammatically ‘correct’ with two minor emendations, producing a question, Hveim getum hôla launa hnossfjǫlð ossa lofi? ‘Whom do we splendidly repay for our abundance of treasures with praise?’ This would be answered in the second couplet. However, although Sigvatr occasionally uses rhetorical questions beginning with an interrog. pron. (Sigv Berv 11/1-3^II, 13/1-4^II, both beginning a stanza, and Sigv ErfÓl 17/3), he is never so unsubtle as to answer them. — [1] getum ... launa ‘we [I] will repay’: Or ‘let us repay’. For auxiliary geta with inf. see LP: 3. geta 4. — [3] es ‘to whom’: The K^x reading sú es (f. nom. sg.) is grammatically incorrect, as the demonstrative should be þeiri, f. dat. sg. agreeing with dœtr ‘daughter’ (or possibly þá, f. acc. sg. as the object of the rel. clause, cf. NS §260), and both Kock (NN §2775 and ÍF 28 prefer the reading of J2^x and E, as here. — [4] sigrhvatastr, digri ‘the most victorious stout’: Strong (-astr) and weak (digri) adj. inflections are juxtaposed here, as occasionally elsewhere in skaldic poetry. The weak digri is appropriate, being Óláfr’s nickname (cf. Note to l. 4 sigrhvatastr). — [4] sigrhvatastr ‘most victorious’: Although LP lists compounds in both sig- n. ‘battle’ and sigr- m. ‘victory’, it is not clear that there was a real distinction between these two elements, especially in compounds (cf. Finnur Jónsson’s translation of sigrgjarn as kamp-begærlig ‘battle-eager’ in LP and sejrbegærlig ‘victory-eager’ in Skj BI, 533). Both Finnur Jónsson and Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson in ÍF 28 select the variant reading sighvatastr, presumably to improve the pun on the poet’s own name, of which Sighvatr is a standard form (cf. Paasche 1917, 80; Fidjestøl 1982, 160). However, sigrhvatastr is preferable both stemmatically and metrically. According to Kuhn (1983, 77), when r follows another consonant, especially b, d, or g, both consonants participate in the internal rhyme, thus digri would presuppose a rhyme on sigr-. Moreover, Sigvatr made use of the rhyme between the simplex sigr and his favourite epithet for King Óláfr, digri ‘stout’, on several occasions (Sigv ErfÓl 6/8, 8/2, Sigv Lv 12/6; see also Jǫk Lv 1/8, ÞjóðA Magn 1/2^II, Arn Hryn 13/7^II). — [5] beið þings ‘attended the assembly’: Bíða + gen. normally means ‘await’. For this stanza, LP suggests indfinde sig på tinge ‘appear at the assembly’, and that suggestion is followed here. While it is conceivable that the stanza describes a large army awaiting the outcome of the assembly, Snorri says that Ástríðr spoke at a fjǫlmennt þing ‘crowded assembly’ (ÍF 28, 4) and this seems the more likely interpretation. — [5] á Hǫngrum ‘at Hangrar’: A Swedish place of this name has not been identified. — [7] Ástríðr: The ms. spellings generally point to the form Ástríð, and it is conceivable that they preserve the OEN form of this name, which is attested without the ‑r ending in runic inscriptions from the C11th (Peterson 1981, 56-8, 66). Ms. E has ‘astri’, and papp18^x (not used here as it is an inferior copy of K) has Ástríðr, presumably influenced by the Icel. form of the name.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
7. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
8. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1983. Das Dróttkvætt. Heidelberg: Winter.
9. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
10. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
11. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
12. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
13. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
14. Jón Skaptason. 1983. ‘Material for an Edition and Translation of the Poems of Sigvat Þórðarson, skáld’. Ph.D. thesis. State University of New York at Stony Brook. DAI 44: 3681A.
15. Beito, Olav. 1954. Genusskifte i nynorsk. Skrifter utgitt av det norske videnskaps-akademi i Oslo, 2. Hist.-filos. kl., 1. Oslo: Dybwad.
16. Janzén, A. 1965. ‘Gender Variation in Scandinavian: IV’. SS 37, 356-76.
17. Paasche, Fredrik. 1917. ‘Sigvat Tordssøn: et skaldeportræt’. Edda 8, 57-86.
18. Peterson, Lena. 1981. Kvinnonamnens böjning i fornsvenskan: de ursprungligen starkt böjda namnen. Anthroponymica Suecana 8. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.
19. Internal references
20. (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 25 April 2024)
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga ins góða’ 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=116> (accessed 25 April 2024)
22. Judith Jesch 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Poem about Queen Ástríðr’ 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. 645. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1350> (accessed 25 April 2024)
23. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 13’ 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. 198-200.
24. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Jǫkull Bárðarson, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 813.
25. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Bersǫglisvísur 11’ 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. 22-3.
26. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Erfidrápa Óláfs helga 17’ 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. 685.
27. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Erfidrápa Óláfs helga 6’ 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. 672.
28. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 12’ 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. 714.
29. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Stanzas about Magnús Óláfsson in Danaveldi 1’ 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. 88-9.