Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Bersǫglisvísur 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. 23-4.
Hætts, þats allir ætla
— áðr skal við því ráða —
hárir menn, es heyrik,
hót, skjǫldungi at móti.
Greypts, þats hǫfðum hneppta,
heldr, ok niðr í feldi
— slegit hefr þǫgn á þegna —
þingmenn nǫsum stinga.
Hætts hót, þats allir hárir menn, es heyrik, ætla at móti skjǫldungi; áðr skal ráða við því. Heldr greypts, þats þingmenn hneppta hǫfðum ok stinga nǫsum niðr í feldi; þǫgn hefr slegit á þegna.
The threat is dangerous when all grey-haired men, as I hear, intend [to revolt] against the ruler; that must be prevented in advance. It’s rather grim when assembly members hang their heads and stick their noses into their cloaks; silence has descended on your followers.
Mss: Kˣ(505r), 39(14vb), E(5v), J2ˣ(246r) (Hkr); Holm2(74v), 972ˣ(585va), 972ˣ(585vb), 325VI(42rb), 321ˣ(283), 73aˣ(216v-217r), 325VII(41v), 325V(89vb), 61(130va), Tóm(161v), Bb(206rb) (ÓH); Ágr(14va) (Ágr); FskAˣ(209) (Fsk, ll. 5-8, 1-4); H(4v), Hr(6rb) (H-Hr); 325XI 3(1v), Flat(190ra) (Flat); A(7v), W(110) (TGT, ll. 1-4)
Readings: [1] Hætts (‘Hætt er’): ‘hætr’ A, ‘Het’ W; þats (‘þat er’): þeim 325VI, 73aˣ, þeir er 321ˣ, því er Flat; allir: ‘[...]’ 325VII, ‘orir’ Bb; ætla: so 325VI, 321ˣ, 61, Ágr, FskAˣ, H, Hr, 325XI 3, Flat, A, W, heitask Kˣ, 39, ætlask E, J2ˣ, Holm2, 972ˣ(585va), 972ˣ(585vb), 73aˣ, 325V, Tóm, Bb, ‘hæzlar’(?) 325VII [2] skal: skaltu Flat; við: om. Tóm; því: ‘[...]’ 325VII; ráða: mæla J2ˣ, ‘[...]’ 325VII [3] hárir: ‘har’ 972ˣ(585vb), Tóm, ‘[...]’ 325VII, háir 61, ‘horir’ FskAˣ, ‘harr’ Hr, Haralds Flat; menn es heyrik (‘menn er ec heyri’): menn er heyri 972ˣ(585va), ‘menn en ec hæy[...]’ 325VII, mun ek enn ef ek heyri Tóm; menn: mér W; es (‘er’): en 325VII, 61, Bb, A, W [4] hót: ‘[...]o[...]’ 325VII, ‘hꜹtt’ Ágr; skjǫldungi: ‘skiolldundungi’ 321ˣ, skjǫldunga Tóm, ‘skꜹlldvngi’ 325XI 3; at: á 61, Tóm, Ágr, Hr, í Bb, 325XI 3, Flat, om. W [5] Greypts (‘greypt er’): greyp er 61, Tóm, gneyft er Ágr, FskAˣ, ‘gryftt er’ 325XI 3; þats (‘þat er’): so 39, Holm2, 972ˣ(585va), 972ˣ(585vb), 325VI, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 325VII, 325V, Bb, Ágr, FskAˣ, Hr, 325XI 3, Flat, þat Kˣ, 61, om. E, J2ˣ, H, vér Tóm; hǫfðum: ‘havfvm’ Tóm, hǫfðut Bb; hneppta: so 39, 325VI, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, H, Flat, ‘hnøpta’ Kˣ, ‘hneypta’ E, J2ˣ, Holm2, 972ˣ(585va), 972ˣ(585vb), 325V, 61, Hr, ‘hnæypta’ 325VII, FskAˣ, ‘hnypta’ Tóm, ‘noftta’ Bb, hnistir Ágr, ‘hnefta’ 325XI 3 [6] ok: om. 61; í: en 325VII, om. 325XI 3, Flat; feldi: felda 39, E, J2ˣ, Holm2, 972ˣ(585va), 972ˣ(585vb), 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 325V, Tóm, Bb, FskAˣ, feldinn 61 [7] slegit hefr: ‘[...]’ 325VII; hefr: ‘hofr’ 39; á: yfir Flat; þegna: ‘þeg[...]a’ 325VII, þagna Bb [8] þing‑: ‘þ[...]g’ 325VII
Editions: Skj AI, 254-5, Skj BI, 237, Skald I, 123, NN §§1868, 1982; ÍF 28, 30 (Mgóð ch. 16), E 1916, 18; ÓH 1941, I, 626 (ch. 261); ÍF 29, 33 (ch. 34), Ágr 1995, 46-9 (ch. 35); ÍF 29, 214-15 (ch. 48); Fms 6, 43 (Mgóð ch. 22); Louis-Jensen 1970b, 149, Flat 1860-8, III, 269, Mork 1928-32, 29, Andersson and Gade 107, 467 (MH); Jón Skaptason 1983, 149, 294-5; SnE 1848-87, II, 176-7, 424, TGT 1884, 30, 112, TGT 1927, 84, 107.
Context: In TGT, ll. 1-4 are given as an example of anastrophus ‘anastrophe’, i.e. inversion of w. o., in which the prep. at móti ‘against’ is placed after the noun it qualifies (skjǫldungi ‘ruler’).
Notes: [1] ætla ‘intend [to revolt]’: Verbs of motion (here: ‘revolt, go against’) can be suppressed with the verb ætla. The variant m. v. ætlask lit. ‘intend for themselves’ (so Skj B; Skald; ÍF 28) is also possible, but, because ætla is higher up on the stemma, that form has been adopted in the present edn. — [3] hárir menn ‘grey-haired men’: Indicating that the impending uprising against Magnús is premeditated and not an act of youthful rashness. — [4] hót ‘threat’: Skj B construes this with the cl. es heyrik ‘as I hear’ (l. 3). — [5] hneppta ‘hang’: Hap. leg. The different spellings show that the scribes had problems understanding the word. The verb hneppta is derived from hnepptr ‘scanty, narrow, scarce’, p. p. of hneppa ‘squeeze, force’, and the sense is that the assembly members are bowing their heads down and forcing their noses into their cloaks (see LP: hnepta). — [6] í feldi (m. dat. sg.) ‘into their cloaks’: Lit. ‘into the cloak’. The variant form felda (m. acc. pl.; so Skj B; Skald; ÍF 29, 214-15) implies motion (into the cloaks), whereas the dat. feldi indicates ‘motion in situ’. Hiding one’s head in a cloak is an indication of unhappiness and frustration (see ÍF 2, 148; Egill Lv 16/5-8V; Note to Anon (MH) [7]). — [7] þegna (m. acc. pl.) ‘followers’: Here þegnar seems to include people who were in close allegiance with Magnús (like Sigvatr himself) rather than ‘subjects’ in general (see Note to st. 11/2 above). — [8] þingmenn ‘assembly members’: A þingmaðr was a man belonging to a specific legal district (þing), and the word is translated here (somewhat loosely) as ‘assembly member’.
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