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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Sigv Austv 9I

R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Austrfararvísur 9’ 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. 596.

Sigvatr ÞórðarsonAustrfararvísur
8910

text and translation

Kátr vask opt, þás úti
ǫrðigt veðr á fjǫrðum
vísa segl í vási
vindblásit skóf Strinda.
Hestr óð kafs at kostum;
kilir ristu men Lista,
út þás eisa létum
undan skeiðr at sundi.

Vask opt kátr, þás ǫrðigt veðr úti á fjǫrðum skóf vindblásit segl {vísa Strinda} í vási. {Hestr kafs} óð at kostum; kilir ristu {men Lista}, þás létum skeiðr eisa undan út at sundi.
 
‘I was often cheerful when a harsh wind out in the fjords raked the wind-blown sail of the ruler of the Strindir [NORWEGIAN KING = Óláfr] in a drenching storm. The horse of the deep [SHIP] advanced at a fine pace; the keels cleft the necklace of Lista [SEA] when we let the warships dash away out at sea.

notes and context

ÓH and Hkr place this stanza on an earlier journey that Sigvatr makes with Bjǫrn digri ‘the Stout’, King Óláfr’s marshal, to visit Rǫgnvaldr jarl Úlfsson in Gautland (Västergötland). He speaks this and the next two stanzas as they ride into the territory.

On the inclusion of sts 9-12 in Austv, see Introduction. Turville-Petre (1976, 79) takes this stanza to show that much of Sigvatr’s journey was on shipboard, and he supports the view of Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 192-5) that Sigvatr sailed north to Romsdalen or Trondheim before setting out overland. Other situations could be imagined, e.g. that the stanza is retrospective, nostalgically comparing Sigvatr’s time aboard a royal ship with the miseries of the journey to the east.

readings

sources

Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.

editions and texts

Skj: Sigvatr Þórðarson, 3. Austrfararvísur 9: AI, 236, BI, 222, Skald I, 115-16, NN §1861; Fms 4, 135 (ÓH ch. 70), Fms 12, 81, ÓH 1941, I, 135 (ch. 53), Flat 1860-8, II, 58; Hkr 1777-1826, II, 82, VI, 81, Hkr 1868, 274, Hkr 1893-1901, II, 113, ÍF 27, 92-3, Hkr 1991, I, 314-15 (ÓHHkr ch. 71); Ternström 1871, 8-9, 40, Jón Skaptason 1983, 90, 240-1.

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