Sigv Berv 8II
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Bersǫglisvísur 8’ 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. 19.
Fǫður Magnúss létk fregna
folgin jǫfurs dolga
orð, þaus eyru heyrðu
ór, á svik hvé fóru.
Mál bark hvert af heilum
hug, þvít eigi brugðumk
(ek vissa þó) ossum
(ótta) lánardróttni.
Létk {fǫður Magnúss} fregna folgin orð dolga jǫfurs, þaus eyru ór heyrðu, hvé fóru á svik. Bark hvert mál af heilum hug, þvít eigi brugðumk lánardróttni ossum; ek vissa þó ótta.
I let {Magnús’s father} [= Óláfr Haraldsson] hear the hidden words of the prince’s enemies, which our [my] ears heard, how they plotted deceit. I carried each message with a candid heart, because I did not betray our liege-lord; I nonetheless knew there was danger.
Mss: H(4v), Hr(6ra) (H-Hr); 325XI 3(1r), Flat(190ra) (Flat)
Readings: [1] létk (‘let ek’): læt ek Flat [2] folgin: ‘f[…]’ 325XI 3; jǫfurs: ‘iaufr son’ Hr; dolga: bolga Flat [4] ór á: ‘ora’ Hr, Flat [5] Mál: ‘m[…]’ 325XI 3; bark (‘bar ek’): ‘[…]’ 325XI 3 [7] þó ossum: þá ossa 325XI 3, Flat [8] ótta: ótt á Hr
Editions: Skj AI, 253, Skj BI, 236, Skald I, 122, NN §1114; Fms 6, 41 (ch. 22); Louis-Jensen 1970b, 148-9, Flat 1860-8, III, 268, Mork 1928-32, 28, Andersson and Gade 2000, 106, 467 (MH); Jón Skaptason 1983, 144, 290-1.
Notes: [All]: In his capacity as Óláfr’s court poet and retainer, Sigvatr served as his envoy to foreign rulers, and he also warned him of domestic treason (ÍF 27, 121-3). — [7, 8] lánardróttni ossum ‘our liege-lord’: Skj B takes this with the first cl. of the helmingr. Ossum ‘our’ could also be taken in the sense ‘my’ here. For the infamy connected with high treason, see Note to Þflekk Lv [12]. — [7, 8] ek vissa þó ótta ‘I nonetheless knew there was danger’: Kock (NN §1114) takes this cl. to mean ‘yet I showed respect’ and connects it with lánardróttni ossum ‘for our liege-lord’ (ll. 7, 8). The verb vita is not attested in that meaning (see Fritzner: vita), however, and it is more likely that Sigvatr refers to the occasion when he put himself in danger of falling out of the king’s favour by waking him and informing him of impending treason (see ÍF 27, 121-3).
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- 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.
- 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.
- Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
- Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
- ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
- 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.
- 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.
- Internal references
- (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 27 April 2024)
- Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Þorgeirr flekkr, Lausavísa’ 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. 9-10. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1432> (accessed 27 April 2024)
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