Sigv Austv 21^I

Fast skalt, ríkr, við ríkan
Rǫgnvald, konungr, halda
— hann es þýðr at þinni
þǫrf nôtt ok dag — sôttum.
Þann veitk, þinga kennir,
þik baztan vin miklu
á austrvega eiga
allt með grœnu salti.

Skalt, ríkr konungr, halda fast sôttum við ríkan Rǫgnvald; hann es þýðr at þǫrf þinni nôtt ok dag. Þann veitk þik eiga, {kennir þinga}, miklu baztan vin á austrvega allt með grœnu salti.

You must, powerful king, hold fast this covenant with the powerful Rǫgnvaldr; he is well-disposed to your needs night and day. In him I know you, {master of assemblies} [RULER], to have by far the best friend in the east all along the green brine.

Mss: Holm2(26v), 325V(32bis va) (ll. 1-4), R686ˣ(50v), 972ˣ(181va), J2ˣ(161v), 325VI(17vb), 75a(16rb), 73aˣ(66v), 61(94va), 68(25r), Holm4(17vb-18ra), 325VII(13r), Flat(93rb), Tóm(114r) (ÓH); Kˣ(307v), Bb(153va-b) (Hkr); FskBˣ(45r), FskAˣ(169) (Fsk, ll. 1-4)

Readings: [1] ríkan: ríkjan 325V, 68    [2] Rǫgn‑: ‘Regn‑’ 325VII;    ‑vald: ‑valdr FskBˣ    [3] es (‘er’): stendr Kˣ;    þýðr: ‘þigðr’ J2ˣ, om. Kˣ;    at: so 325VI, 73aˣ, 68, Holm4, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, FskBˣ, Bb, FskAˣ, af Holm2, 325V, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 75a, 61, om. Kˣ;    þinni: om. Kˣ    [4] dag: dags 73aˣ;    sôttum: sôttu R686ˣ, ôttum 73aˣ, sótta 68, sôttumsk Kˣ    [5] veit: veitt Bb;    kennir: ‘kennr’ R686ˣ    [6] þik: þín 325VII, Bb    [7] á: í 972ˣ, 68;    ‑vega: vega with ‘v’ written above ‘a’ Holm2, ‑vegum 325V, 325VI, 75a, 73aˣ, Flat, ‑vegi R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J2ˣ, ‑vegu 61, Holm4;    eiga: eigu Tóm    [8] grœnu: grœna 325V, rauða 61

Editions: Skj AI, 240, Skj BI, 225, Skald I, 117; Fms 4, 193, Fms 12, 86, ÓH 1941, I, 208 (ch. 75), Flat 1860-8, II, 115; Hkr 1777-1826, II, 130, VI, 89, Hkr 1868 (ÓHHkr ch. 92), Hkr 1893-1901, II, 175-6, ÍF 27, 145, Hkr 1991, I, 353 (ÓHHkr ch. 91); Fsk 1902-3, 158, ÍF 29, 180 (ch. 30); Ternström 1871, 24-5, 52-3, Jón Skaptason 1983, 102, 245.

Context: In ÓH and Hkr, after his return from a trip to Rǫgnvaldr’s court, Sigvatr assures King Óláfr of the jarl’s loyalty. In Fsk, sts 18/1-4 and 21/5-8 comprise a stanza. See Context to st. 18 and Note to ll. 1-4 below.

Notes: [1-4]: The context provided in Fsk for the stanza formed by this helmingr and st. 18/5-8 (see Context to st. 18) raises the possibility that Sigvatr’s journey to Russia was separate from the visit to the Swedish court and hence, since Fsk (ÍF 29, 179) associates Austv with the Swedish visit, that the stanza may not belong to the poem. The Hkr context also gives confusing information about when this stanza was composed, since it describes a journey by Sigvatr to visit Rǫgnvaldr as if it were separate from the journey on which he composed Austv. However, the repetition of wording and narrative material (ÍF 27, 144, cf. 134), together with the evidence of the ÓH mss (ÓH 1941, I, 206) makes it clear that this is a recapitulation rather than a separate journey. Snorri’s separation of this stanza from the others cannot be motivated by the seeming allusion to the Baltic Sea contained in it (see below), since his prose gives no indication that Sigvatr went near the Baltic on this trip. — [1] ríkr : ríkan: On the peculiar hending, see Konráð Gíslason (1877, 18). — [3] es ‘is’: The reading stendr of Kˣ is adopted by Ternström (1871), but the passage is corrupt in Kˣ, where the remainder of the line is wanting. — [5] kennir þinga ‘master of assemblies [RULER]’: Other possible meanings of kennir are ‘knower, connoisseur’, ‘instructor’ and ‘tester’. It is possible that kennir þinga is a warrior-kenning, since þing ‘assembly’ is occasionally used alone as a half-kenning to refer to battle (see LP: þing 3, and cf. ESk Geisl 29^VII malmþings kennir ‘tester of the weapon-meeting [BATTLE > WARRIOR]’). — [7, 8] á austrvega allt með grœnu salti ‘in the east all along the green brine’: On the seeming word-play here in reference to the Baltic, and on the difficulty of locating Rǫgnvaldr’s domain, see the Introduction. Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 174-5) objects to the acc. after á, and he would read -vegum with the greater number of mss; but the better mss have -vega, and Finnur Jónsson (1932, 16) responds that a dat. form is unnecessary. He also argues that the reference is to ‘Sweden’ in the modern sense.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
7. Konráð Gíslason. 1877. Om helrim i förste og tredje linie af regelmæssigt ‘dróttkvætt’ og ‘hrynhenda’. Indbydelsesskrift til Kjøbenhavns universitets aarsfest til erindring om kirkens reformation. Copenhagen: Schultz.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
11. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
12. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
13. 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.
14. Sahlgren, Jöran. 1927-8. Eddica et Scaldica. Fornvästnordiska studier I-II. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
15. Finnur Jónsson. 1932. Austrfararvísur. Avhandlinger utgitt av Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo, II. Hist.-filos. kl.1931, 1. Oslo: Dybwad.
16. Ternström, Alfred. 1871. Om skalden Sighvat Thordsson och tolkning af hans Austrfararvísur, Vestrfararvísur och Knútsdrápa. Lund: Ohlsson.
17. Hkr 1777-1826 = Schöning, Gerhard et al., eds. 1777-1826. Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga-sögor. 6 vols. Copenhagen: Stein.
18. Hkr 1868 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1868. Heimskringla eller Norges kongesagaer af Snorre Sturlassøn. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger & Christie.
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 24 April 2024)
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=53> (accessed 24 April 2024)
22. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 24 April 2024)
23. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=152> (accessed 24 April 2024)
24. R. D. Fulk 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Austrfararvísur’ 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. 578. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1351> (accessed 24 April 2024)
25. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 29’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 30-1.