Sigv Berv 11^II

Hverr eggjar þik hǫggva,
hjaldrgegnir, bú þegna?
Ofrausn es þat jǫfri
innanlands at vinna.
Engr hafði svá ungum
áðr bragningi ráðit;
rán hykk rekkum þínum
— reiðrs herr, konungr — leiðask.

Hverr eggjar þik, {hjaldrgegnir}, hǫggva bú þegna? Es ofrausn jǫfri at vinna þat innanlands. Engr hafði áðr ráðit ungum bragningi svá; hykk rekkum þínum leiðask rán; reiðrs herr, konungr.

Who urges you, {battle-promoter} [WARRIOR], to slay the livestock of your subjects? It is insolence for a prince to do that in his own land. No one had earlier advised a young ruler in such a way; I think your troops are tired of plunder; people are angry, king.

Mss: Kˣ(504v-505r), 39(14vb), E(5v), J2ˣ(245v-246r) (Hkr); Holm2(74r), 972ˣ(585va), 972ˣ(585vb), 325VI(42rb), 321ˣ(283) (ll. 1-6), 73aˣ(216v), 325VII(41v), 325V(89vb), 61(130va), Tóm(161v), Bb(206rb) (ÓH); FskBˣ(54r-v) (Fsk); H(4v), Hr(6rb) (H-Hr); 325XI 3(1r-v), Flat(190ra) (Flat)

Readings: [1] Hverr eggjar: ‘Hwerer eggiar’ 972ˣ(585vb), Hverir eggja Tóm, Bb;    þik: ‘þik h[…]’ 325XI 3;    hǫggva: ‘[...]’ 325VII    [2] hjaldr‑: hjalm‑ 61, hildr‑ Tóm;    ‑gegnir: ‑gegn J2ˣ, ‑gegna 325VI, H, Hr, Flat, ‑gegninn 325VII, ‘[…]na’ 325XI 3    [3] Ofrausn: ofraun 39, FskBˣ, um rausn Tóm, ‘ofrosn’ Bb;    þat: om. Hr;    jǫfri: ‘iofru’ 972ˣ(585vb), ræsi 325XI 3, Flat    [4] ‑lands: land 325VII;    vinna: ‘[...]a’ 325VII    [5] Engr: ǫngr Holm2, 972ˣ(585vb), 325V, 61, Tóm, Bb, H, Hr, angr 325XI 3, Flat;    hafði: ‘hæfði’ 325VI    [6] bragningi: ‘bragengi’ 972ˣ(585vb), bragning 73aˣ, bragningum Tóm;    ráðit: ráða 325VI, 321ˣ    [7] rán: rann 61;    hykk (‘hygg ec’): ‘hykk ec’ J2ˣ;    rekkum: þegnum Bb    [8] reiðrs (‘reiðr er’): reiðr 39, 325VII;    leiðask: leiðar Tóm, 325XI 3, Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 254, Skj BI, 237, Skald I, 123, NN §1867; ÍF 28, 29 (Mgóð ch. 16), E 1916, 17-18; ÓH 1941, I, 626 (ch. 261); ÍF 29, 213-14 (ch. 48); Fms 6, 42-3 (Mgóð ch. 22), Louis-Jensen 1970b, 149, Flat 1860-8, III, 269, Mork 1928-32, 29, Andersson and Gade 2000, 107, 467 (MH); Jón Skaptason 1983, 148, 294.

Notes: [2] hjaldrgegnir ‘battle-promoter [WARRIOR]’: The variant reading hjaldrgegna (m. acc. pl.) ‘battle-able’ (so 325VI, H, Hr, 325XI 3, Flat) could be taken as an adj. qualifying a cpd búþegna (m. acc. pl.) ‘farmers’ (if the phrase is understood as a cpd rather than bú þegna ‘the livestock of your subjects’), as the object of the verb hǫggva ‘slay’ (l. 1). That reading is possible, but it is clearly an attempt at syntactic simplification. — [2] þegna (m. acc. pl.) ‘of your subjects’: For the different meanings of the word þegn, see Goetting 2006. In this particular case, the word refers to Magnús’s free subjects, the farmers of Norway (but see st. 12/7 below). — [3] ofrausn ‘insolence’: Lit. ‘excess of heroism’ or ‘over-magnificence’. The cpd clearly has negative connotations here, referring to Magnús’s reckless treatment of the Norw. farmers and their properties. For a discussion of the word, see Note to Arn Hardr 12/1.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
10. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
11. Goetting, Lauren. 2006. ‘Þegn and drengr in the Viking Age’. SS 78, 375-404.
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. Louis-Jensen, Jonna. 1970b. ‘Et forlæg til Flateyjarbók? Fragmenterne AM 325 IV ß og XI, 3 4to’. Opuscula 4. BA 30, 141-58. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
15. Internal references
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða’ 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=147> (accessed 25 April 2024)
17. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Haraldsdrápa 12’ 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, pp. 273-4.