R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Austrfararvísur 13’ 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. 601.
Átt hafa sér, þeirs sóttu,
sendimenn fyr hendi
Sygna grams, með sagnir
siklinga, fǫr mikla.
Spǫrðumk fæst, en fyrða
fǫng eru stór við gǫngu;
vǫrðr réð nýtr, þvís norðan,
Nóregs, þinig fórum.
Sendimenn {grams Sygna}, þeirs sóttu siklinga með sagnir, hafa átt sér mikla fǫr fyr hendi. Spǫrðumk fæst, en fǫng fyrða eru stór við gǫngu; {nýtr vǫrðr Nóregs} réð, þvís fórum norðan þinig.
The messengers {of the lord of the Sygnir} [NORWEGIAN KING = Óláfr], who sought out lords with messages, have had a big journey on their hands. I spared myself very little, but men’s baggage is large along the way; {the able guardian of Norway} [= Óláfr] determined that we went from the north in that direction.
Mss: Holm2(26r), R686ˣ(49v), 972ˣ(178va), J2ˣ(160v-161r), 325VI(17ra-b), 75a(15ra-b), 73aˣ(65r-v), 68(24v), 61(94rb), Holm4(17rb), 325VII(12v), Flat(93ra), Tóm(113v) (ÓH); Kˣ(304v-305r); Bb(153ra) (Hkr)
Readings: [1] Átt: ‘Attȧ’ Tóm; hafa: hafr R686ˣ; sér: þeir 68, om. Tóm; þeirs (‘þeir er’): sér er 68 [2] fyr: af Flat [3] Sygna: Sygni Tóm; með: so 325VI, 68, 61, Holm4, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, Kˣ, við Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 75a, 73aˣ, Bb [4] fǫr: so J2ˣ, 75a, 68, 61, Holm4, Tóm, Kˣ, ‘for’ Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, 325VI, 73aˣ, 325VII, Flat, Bb; mikla: ‘mikka’ R686ˣ [5] Spǫrðumk: spurðumk 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 75a, Holm4, Tóm, Bb, spurðusk 73aˣ, spurðisk 61, spǫrðusk 325VII, spurðu Flat; fæst: flest 75a, 73aˣ, Holm4, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, færst 61, fest Bb; en: er 75a, né 68; fyrða: furða 68, Bb, fyrðar Flat [6] stór: stœrst Bb; gǫngu: so R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 75a, 73aˣ, 68, 61, Bb, corrected from ‘gaundo’ Holm2, gǫngur Holm4, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, Kˣ [7] réð: veldr 61; nýtr: ‘nitur’ 972ˣ, nítr Kˣ; þvís (‘þvi er’): fyrir 75a, er 73aˣ, þat et 68, því Holm4 [8] Nóregs: Nóreg 75a, ‘norígs’ Tóm; þinig: þung R686ˣ, þannig 325VI, Flat, Tóm; fórum: fóru 68, fǫrum Flat, ‘forvund’ Bb
Editions: Skj AI, 237, Skj BI, 223, Skald I, 116, NN §2448A, 2473; Fms 4, 188, Fms 12, 84-5, ÓH 1941, I, 202 (ch. 75), Flat 1860-8, II, 114; Hkr 1777-1826, II, 126, VI, 86, Hkr 1868, 309 (ÓHHkr ch. 92), Hkr 1893-1901, II, 173, ÍF 27, 139, Hkr 1991, I, 349 (ÓHHkr ch. 91); Ternström 1871, 18-19, 47-8, Jón Skaptason 1983, 94, 242.
Context: When they have arrived at Rǫgnvaldr jarl’s residence, the jarl says they must have had a difficult journey, and Sigvatr responds with this and the following stanza.
Notes: [3] grams Sygna ‘of the lord of the Sygnir [NORWEGIAN KING = Óláfr]’: The phrase is here construed with sendimenn ‘messengers’ in l. 2, and sagnir in l. 3 is understood as their messages. However, E. Noreen (1923, 40; also Kock, NN §2473) is quite possibly right that grams Sygna depends on sagnir, which could have the sense ‘troop of men’, here ‘messengers’. — [4] siklinga ‘lords’: Ternström (1871, 47) regards this as gen. pl., depending on sagnir ‘messages’. — [6] fǫng ‘baggage’: Alternative semantic interpretations are possible here. (a) The analysis of Noreen (1923, 40), followed here, is that Sigvatr means to say that although he pampered himself little, and thus he brought along few provisions, the baggage nonetheless was a source of difficulty. Thus, stór ‘large’ in l. 6 would imply ‘heavy’: so Jón Skaptason (1983, 94); Hkr 1991. This interpretation is in keeping with the comedic elements of some of the preceding stanzas. (b) Finnur Jónsson (LP: 2. fang 4) takes this to mean ‘difficulties’, and though Noreen is right that the word is not otherwise attested in this sense, it does commonly mean ‘grappling, wrestling’, which seems close enough in meaning to Finnur’s intent. — [6] gǫngu ‘the way’: The Kˣ reading, pl. gǫngur, is preferred by Noreen (1923, 40).
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