Sigv Ást 3^I

Mildr á mennsku at gjalda
Magnús, en því fǫgnum,
— þat gerði vin virða
víðlendan — Ástríði.
Hón hefr svá komit sínum,
(sǫnn) at fô mun ǫnnur,
(orð gerik drós til dýrðar)
djúprôð kona stjúpi.

Mildr Magnús á Ástríði at gjalda mennsku, en fǫgnum því; þat gerði {vin virða} víðlendan. Hón, djúprôð kona, hefr komit stjúpi sínum svá, at fô ǫnnur mun; gerik sǫnn orð drós til dýrðar.

Generous Magnús has Ástríðr to repay for her bold deed, and we are glad for that; it gave {the friend of men} [RULER = Magnús] a broad realm. She, a deeply decisive woman, has helped her stepson in such a way as few others would; I make true words to the lady’s glory.

Mss: Kˣ(495r-v), 39(12rb), F(37rb), E(3r) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] á: átt F;    at: om. E    [5] hefr: ‘hofr’ 39

Editions: Skj AI, 248, Skj BI, 232, Skald I, 120; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 7, IV, 179-80, ÍF 28, 6-7, Hkr 1991, II, 559 (MGóð ch. 1), F 1871, 169, E 1916, 8; Jón Skaptason 1983, 126, 276.

Context: As for st. 1.

Notes: [1] mennsku ‘her bold deed’: This word has connotations of ‘manly behaviour’ and is translated by Jón Skaptason (1983, 126) as ‘manhood’, though assigned to Magnús rather than Ástríðr. Here, it is taken to refer to Ástríðr’s actions, because she has acted like a man, in speaking successfully at a public assembly. — [3] þat ‘it’: This n. pron. appears to refer to the situation in general (as does n. dat. sg. því ‘that’ in l. 2), rather than specifically back to the f. noun mennsku. — [3-4] gerði vin virða víðlendan ‘gave the friend of men [RULER = Magnús] a broad realm’: Lit. ‘made the friend of men broad-realmed’. — [8] djúprôð kona ‘a deeply decisive woman’: See Note to st. 2/3 above. The phrase is taken here in apposition with hón in l. 5, but it could alternatively be construed with fô ǫnnur (f. nom. sg.) ‘few other(s)’ in l. 6.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
4. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
6. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
7. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
8. 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.
9. Internal references
10. (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 24 April 2024)