Sigv Austv 2I
R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Austrfararvísur 2’ 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. 585.
leit ‘’
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líta (verb): look, see; appear
læt ‘’
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
Létk ‘I had’
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
[1] Létk (‘let ek’): læt ek 75c, 325VII, leit Tóm
eigi ‘’
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3. eigi (adv.): not
notes
[1] til Eiðs ‘to Eið’: Eið n. means ‘isthmus’, hence this is a classic site for portage. If Snorri’s identification of the travellers’ route is correct, the name (also used in the pl.: see the Note to st. 3/2) may refer to the area of Stora Edet (at or near modern Trollhättan on the Götaälv in Bohuslän), the analysis advocated by Beckman (1923 and 1934; see Noreen 1922a, 69-70, for references to similar, earlier proposals). Also suggested, in connection with a more northerly route (see the Introduction), are Eid on the Glomma in Blaker sogn, Aurskog, Akershus (von Friesen 1942, 225) and Eidsvoll, just south of Lake Mjøsa (Schreiner 1927-9c, 38), in which event the forest mentioned in the following stanza would be Eidskogen in Norway. Even Ternström (1871, 43), who accepts Snorri’s account, rejects the identification of Eið with Stora Edet. He instead proposes Ed in Dalsland, near the present Norwegian border, at the southern end of Store Le (as suggested earlier by Munthe in Aall 1838-9, 240, and Munch 1852-63, II, 563 n. 1). Cf. the criticisms of Noreen (loc. cit.) and of Beckman (1934, 216).
Eiðs ‘Eið’
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Eið (noun f.): Eið, Eiðar, Eids
notes
[1] til Eiðs ‘to Eið’: Eið n. means ‘isthmus’, hence this is a classic site for portage. If Snorri’s identification of the travellers’ route is correct, the name (also used in the pl.: see the Note to st. 3/2) may refer to the area of Stora Edet (at or near modern Trollhättan on the Götaälv in Bohuslän), the analysis advocated by Beckman (1923 and 1934; see Noreen 1922a, 69-70, for references to similar, earlier proposals). Also suggested, in connection with a more northerly route (see the Introduction), are Eid on the Glomma in Blaker sogn, Aurskog, Akershus (von Friesen 1942, 225) and Eidsvoll, just south of Lake Mjøsa (Schreiner 1927-9c, 38), in which event the forest mentioned in the following stanza would be Eidskogen in Norway. Even Ternström (1871, 43), who accepts Snorri’s account, rejects the identification of Eið with Stora Edet. He instead proposes Ed in Dalsland, near the present Norwegian border, at the southern end of Store Le (as suggested earlier by Munthe in Aall 1838-9, 240, and Munch 1852-63, II, 563 n. 1). Cf. the criticisms of Noreen (loc. cit.) and of Beckman (1934, 216).
þvít ‘because’
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þvít (conj.): because, since
óðusk ‘’
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vaða (verb): advance, wade
notes
[2] aptrhvarf ‘turning back’: Ternström (1871, 42-3) takes the word to refer to the return journey, after they have reached their destination, but this requires less probable word order, with þvít ‘because’ in l. 1 introducing not the clause headed by óðumk ‘I dreaded’ but the intercalary clause. Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 185) also assumes this meaning for aptrhvarf, but he surmises, contradicting Snorri’s account, that the party alternately dragged and rowed the boat across Norway to Eda in Värmland and left it there (see also Noreen 1922a, 74, and cf. Beckman 1923, 323-4; Beckman 1934, 207-8). Thus he is able to construe þvít with óðumk, taking the sense of the passage to be that Sigvatr dreaded the prospect of a return journey without a boat. This explains admirably the logical connection between the clauses beginning with Létk and þvít, but it obscures the logical ties between these clauses and the rest of the stanza.
hvarf ‘turning’
[2] ‑hvarf: ‘huerf’ or ‘huorf’ R686ˣ, ‑hvarfs Kˣ
notes
[2] aptrhvarf ‘turning back’: Ternström (1871, 42-3) takes the word to refer to the return journey, after they have reached their destination, but this requires less probable word order, with þvít ‘because’ in l. 1 introducing not the clause headed by óðumk ‘I dreaded’ but the intercalary clause. Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 185) also assumes this meaning for aptrhvarf, but he surmises, contradicting Snorri’s account, that the party alternately dragged and rowed the boat across Norway to Eda in Värmland and left it there (see also Noreen 1922a, 74, and cf. Beckman 1923, 323-4; Beckman 1934, 207-8). Thus he is able to construe þvít with óðumk, taking the sense of the passage to be that Sigvatr dreaded the prospect of a return journey without a boat. This explains admirably the logical connection between the clauses beginning with Létk and þvít, but it obscures the logical ties between these clauses and the rest of the stanza.
drekkin ‘’
dreginn ‘dragged’
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2. draga (verb; °dregr; dró, drógu; dreginn/droget(Hirð NKS 1642 4° 146v²⁹; cf. [$962$])): drag, pull, draw
[2] dreginn: ‘dre(ck)ín’(?) Bb
karfa ‘vessel’
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1. karfi (noun m.; °-a): ship, vessel
notes
[2] karfa ‘vessel’: The term occurs only here in the skaldic corpus, and its meaning is elusive (Jesch 2001a, 135). Snorri identifies this as an eikjukarfi ‘ferry-boat’, an interpretation that Finnur Jónsson (1932, 11) defends against Noreen’s suggestion (1922a, 70-1) that it was actually a rather substantial vessel, one with at least six pair of oars, better suited to crossing a large lake than a river. It is not improbable that karfa here is intended to be comically grandiose: see Beckman (1923, 322); Beckman (1934, 213); and cf. rǫnn ‘mansions, great halls’ in reference to cottages (Ótt Lv 3/2, a vísa possibly by Sigvatr).
vér ‘we’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
stiltum ‘had managed’
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stilla (verb): control
svá ‘so’
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svá (adv.): so, thus
valtan ‘the unsteady’
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valtr (adj.): unsteady, in danger
nátt ‘’
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nátt (noun f.; °náttar/nǽtr, dat. -/-u; nǽtr): night
notes
[4] vátr ‘wet’: The word might be construed with the intercalary clause (so, e.g., Hollander 1964a, 335), but the word order would then seem exceptionally knotty. If it is to be placed in the principal clause, as in this edn, Eið must lie beyond the water crossed, since it is not to be supposed that Sigvatr was wet before the crossing.
til ‘’
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til (prep.): to
notes
[4] til glœps ‘badly’: The phrase more literally means ‘for a crime’ or ‘for badness’, but prepositional phrases with til sometimes have adverbial force, as with til fulls ‘fully’ and til loks ‘finally’. The sense of the clause is thus that the reason Sigvatr will not turn back is that he would have to cross the dangerous water again. This is not precisely how the phrase has generally been understood. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; so also Noreen 1922a, 69) assigns glœpr the unrecorded sense ‘mortal danger’; Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 27) suggests that the clause may mean ‘We thus decided on a mad undertaking in the boat’; the eds of Hkr 1991 propose the sense ‘We thus got ourselves into trouble’; Jón Skaptason (1983, 83) renders this ‘Thus we began [this] folly on a boat’. Kock (NN §626) rather makes of til glœps an intensifier modifying vátr ‘wet’ (cf. Ger. sündhaft ‘terribly, very’, Icel. firna- ‘terribly, very’, etc.), but this obliges him to construe á báti ‘in the boat’ with the principal clause (beginning with Létk ‘I had’, l. 1), where it makes little sense. It also renders the remaining intercalary relatively pointless: vér stiltum svá ‘we managed so’ (or ‘thus did I arrange it’, Turville-Petre 1976, 81). Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 183-4), rejecting Kock’s view, suggests etymological links with words meaning ‘swallow, gulp, idiot’ and reads vátr til glóps/glœps ‘wet up to the neck’.
glóps ‘’
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glópr (noun m.)
notes
[4] til glœps ‘badly’: The phrase more literally means ‘for a crime’ or ‘for badness’, but prepositional phrases with til sometimes have adverbial force, as with til fulls ‘fully’ and til loks ‘finally’. The sense of the clause is thus that the reason Sigvatr will not turn back is that he would have to cross the dangerous water again. This is not precisely how the phrase has generally been understood. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; so also Noreen 1922a, 69) assigns glœpr the unrecorded sense ‘mortal danger’; Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 27) suggests that the clause may mean ‘We thus decided on a mad undertaking in the boat’; the eds of Hkr 1991 propose the sense ‘We thus got ourselves into trouble’; Jón Skaptason (1983, 83) renders this ‘Thus we began [this] folly on a boat’. Kock (NN §626) rather makes of til glœps an intensifier modifying vátr ‘wet’ (cf. Ger. sündhaft ‘terribly, very’, Icel. firna- ‘terribly, very’, etc.), but this obliges him to construe á báti ‘in the boat’ with the principal clause (beginning with Létk ‘I had’, l. 1), where it makes little sense. It also renders the remaining intercalary relatively pointless: vér stiltum svá ‘we managed so’ (or ‘thus did I arrange it’, Turville-Petre 1976, 81). Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 183-4), rejecting Kock’s view, suggests etymological links with words meaning ‘swallow, gulp, idiot’ and reads vátr til glóps/glœps ‘wet up to the neck’.
á ‘in’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
báti ‘the boat’
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bátr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): boat
her ‘’
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hér (adv.): here
Taki ‘take’
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2. taka (verb): take
[5] Taki hlœgi‑: ‘her taci lægi’ 325VII, taki hlœgis Flat, taki hlæði Tóm
lægi ‘’
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lægi (noun n.; °-s): sea < lægiskip (noun n.)
hlæði ‘’
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hlœðir (noun m.): loader < hlœðiskip (noun n.)
hlœgi ‘the laughable’
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hlœgi (noun n.): [laughable] < hlœgiskip (noun n.)
[5] Taki hlœgi‑: ‘her taci lægi’ 325VII, taki hlœgis Flat, taki hlæði Tóm
hauka ‘’
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1. haukr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): hawk
hǫrga ‘’
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hǫrgr (noun m.; °; -ar): cairn, shrine
hauga ‘of burial mounds’
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haugr (noun m.; °-s, -i; -ar): mound, cairn
[5] hauga: hǫrga 68, hauka Tóm
kennings
Herr hauga‘the host of burial mounds ’
= TROLLS
the host of burial mounds → TROLLS
herr ‘the host’
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herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host
kennings
Herr hauga‘the host of burial mounds ’
= TROLLS
the host of burial mounds → TROLLS
sakaða ‘’
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saka (verb): blame, be guilty
sákat ‘I never saw’
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2. sjá (verb): see
[6] sákat (‘saka ek’): so R686ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 68, 61, Holm4, 75c, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, Bb, sakaða ek Holm2, eigi Kˣ
far ‘craft’
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far (noun n.; °-s; *-): travel, vessel, trace, life, conduct
verra ‘a worse’
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verri (adj. comp.): worse, worst
læt ‘’
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
létk ‘I courted’
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
[7] létk (‘let ec’): læt ek 325VI, 75c, Tóm, lét 68
hafs ‘’
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haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea
heims ‘’
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heimr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): home, abode; world
húms ‘of the sea’
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húm (noun n.): sea-spray
[7] húms: heims Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 68, Holm4, 75c, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, Kˣ, Bb, hafs 61
kennings
hrúti húms;‘the ram of the sea; ’
= SHIP
the ram of the sea; → SHIP
notes
[7] húms ‘of the sea’: The mss almost all have heims ‘world’s’, though 61 has hafs ‘ocean’s’ (the reading adopted in Fms). Plainly the meaning ‘sea’s’ is required, and the assumption of húms (first adopted in Hkr 1777-1826, II, 124, and accepted in most critical eds, excluding ÍF 27, Hkr 1991) best explains how heims entered the textual tradition of the poem. Turville-Petre (1976, 81), retaining heims, takes it to be a half-kenning for ‘sea’, comparing Bragi Rdr 4/7III lǫnd Leifa ‘lands of Leifi <sea-king>’, though this seems unlikely.
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
hrauti ‘’
kennings
hrúti húms;‘the ram of the sea; ’
= SHIP
the ram of the sea; → SHIP
hætt ‘danger’
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hættr (adj.; °compar. -ari/-ri, superl. -astr): dangerous
fórsk ‘’
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
fǫr ‘’
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fǫr (noun f.): journey, fate; movement
fór ‘it went’
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
[8] fór: fǫr 325VI, 75a, 68, Tóm, fórsk Kˣ
bœttr ‘’
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bœta (verb; °-tt-): better, emend, compensate
betr ‘better’
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betr (adv.; °superl. bezt/bazt; pos. vel adv.): better
[8] betr: bœttr R686ˣ
an ‘than’
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2. an (conj.): than
vættak ‘I had expected’
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vætta (verb): expect
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Sigvatr and his men go east to Eiðar and cross the river with great difficulty, using an unreliable boat, a kind of ferry. Afterwards, the poet delivers this stanza.
The stanza seems to say that the men crossed the water in a leaky, laughable boat, then dragged it, presumably across a neck of land. Snorri, however, does not mention any portage.
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