Sigv Berv 17^II

Sighvats es hugr hizig
Hǫrðaknúts í garði,
mildr nema mjǫk vel skaldi
Magnús konungr fagni.
Fórk með feðrum þeira
— fekk ungum mér tunga
golls; vask enn með ǫllu
óskeggjaðr þá — beggja.

Hugr Sighvats es hizig í garði Hǫrðaknúts, nema mildr Magnús konungr fagni skaldi mjǫk vel. Fórk með feðrum þeira beggja; þá vask enn með ǫllu óskeggjaðr; tunga fekk ungum mér golls.

Sigvatr’s heart will be there in Hǫrðaknútr’s hall unless generous King Magnús welcomes the skald very well. I followed the fathers of them both; then I was still altogether beardless; my tongue brought me gold as a youth.

Mss: 325XI 3(1v), Flat(190ra-b) (Flat)

Readings: [1] es hugr: hugr er both;    hizig: ‘hittíg’ 325XI 3, ‘hítteg’ Flat    [5] með: so Flat, om. 325XI 3    [6] fekk: fekk ek Flat;    ungum mér: ungan mér 325XI 3, mér ungan Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 256, Skj BI, 238, Skald I, 123, NN §3067; Louis-Jensen 1970b, 150, Flat 1860-8, III, 269, Mork 1928-32, 30, Andersson and Gade 2000, 108, 468 (MH); Jón Skaptason 1983, 154, 297.

Notes: [1] Sighvats es hugr hizig ‘Sigvatr’s heart will be there’: The ms. readings are unmetrical. In a noun phrase consisting of two elements, alliteration cannot fall on the second element without the first element also alliterating (see NN §3067; Gade 1995a, 37-8). The present emendation, which was first suggested by Kock (NN §3067), rewrites the l. as a Type XE4 (see Gade 1995a, 97-9). Skj B emends to Sigvats hugr mun hittask ‘Sigvatr’s heart will yearn’, which is also unmetrical and without support in the ms. witnesses. Hizig ‘there’ was first suggested by Árni Magnússon in 761bˣ(326r) and, separately, by Kock (NN §3067). — [2] Hǫrðaknúts: Hǫrðaknútr Knútsson (d. 8 June 1042) was the son of Knútr Sveinsson (Cnut the Great) and his wife, Emma of Normandy. Hǫrðaknútr was king of England 1040-2, and he was regent of Denmark when Berv was composed. — [5, 8] með feðrum þeira beggja ‘with the fathers of them both’: Sigvatr had spent time at the court of Knútr in England and had composed poetry in his honour (see ÍF 27, 271-3; Sigv Vestv^I and Sigv Knútdr^I). — [6] tunga fekk ungum mér ‘my tongue brought me (gold) as a youth’: Ungan (m. acc. sg.) lit. ‘young’ has been emended to ungum (m. dat. sg.) in keeping with all previous eds (the adj. qualifies mér (dat. sg.) ‘me’). Both Skj B and Skald retain the w. o. of the Flat variant (fekk mér ungum tunga), but the w. o. of 325XI 3 is preferable from a metrical point of view (see Gade 1995a, 87-8, 144-7).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
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. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
7. 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.
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. 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.
11. 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.
12. Internal references
13. (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 19 April 2024)
16. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Bersǫglisvísur’ 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. 11-30. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1352> (accessed 19 April 2024)
17. Matthew Townend 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Knútsdrápa’ 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. 649. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1356> (accessed 19 April 2024)
18. Judith Jesch 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Vestrfararvísur’ 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. 615. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1361> (accessed 19 April 2024)