Sigv ErfÓl 1I
Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Erfidrápa Óláfs helga 1’ 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. 665.
Tolf ‘twelve’
(not checked:)
tolf (num. cardinal): twelve
kennings
tolf viðu bála elfar‘twelve trees of the pyres of the river ’
= MEN
the pyres of the river → GOLD
twelve trees of the GOLD → MEN
frák ‘I heard’
(not checked:)
1. fregna (verb): hear of
notes
[1, 5] frák; leitk ‘I heard; I saw’: If these are taken literally, Sigvatr was not present at the capture of the Swedish party, but did witness their subsequent hanging.
tekna ‘were captured’
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2. taka (verb): take
elfar ‘of the river’
(not checked:)
elfr (noun f.): river
kennings
tolf viðu bála elfar‘twelve trees of the pyres of the river ’
= MEN
the pyres of the river → GOLD
twelve trees of the GOLD → MEN
notes
[1, 2] bála elfar ‘of the pyres of the river [GOLD]’: Bál ‘pyre’ as the base-word in gold-kennings is not normally pl. (Meissner 229-30, though cf. Kálf Kátr 11/6VII), but Meissner notes (Meissner 226) that the pl. can be used in gold-kennings, not only for poetic emphasis but also to suggest individual items of gold. Bála may, alternatively or additionally, have been preferred for its disyllabic form.
elfar ‘of the river’
(not checked:)
elfr (noun f.): river
kennings
tolf viðu bála elfar‘twelve trees of the pyres of the river ’
= MEN
the pyres of the river → GOLD
twelve trees of the GOLD → MEN
notes
[1, 2] bála elfar ‘of the pyres of the river [GOLD]’: Bál ‘pyre’ as the base-word in gold-kennings is not normally pl. (Meissner 229-30, though cf. Kálf Kátr 11/6VII), but Meissner notes (Meissner 226) that the pl. can be used in gold-kennings, not only for poetic emphasis but also to suggest individual items of gold. Bála may, alternatively or additionally, have been preferred for its disyllabic form.
tálaust ‘without equivocation’
(not checked:)
tálauss (adj.): without equivocation
[2] tálaust: ‘tallaust’ 972ˣ, Peringskiöld 1697 I
notes
[2] tálaust ‘without equivocation’: The first element is either tá f. ‘pair’ (cf. SnE 1998, I, 106; LP: tálauss) or tál-, i.e. tôl ‘deceit’ (cf. Sigv Erlfl 8/3). The former is assumed here, on the basis of the spelling of the main ms. and because the concept of ‘deceit’ does not seem relevant.
viðu ‘trees’
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1. viðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -u/-i): wood, tree
kennings
tolf viðu bála elfar‘twelve trees of the pyres of the river ’
= MEN
the pyres of the river → GOLD
twelve trees of the GOLD → MEN
bála ‘of the pyres’
(not checked:)
bál (noun n.; °-s; -): fire
kennings
tolf viðu bála elfar‘twelve trees of the pyres of the river ’
= MEN
the pyres of the river → GOLD
twelve trees of the GOLD → MEN
notes
[1, 2] bála elfar ‘of the pyres of the river [GOLD]’: Bál ‘pyre’ as the base-word in gold-kennings is not normally pl. (Meissner 229-30, though cf. Kálf Kátr 11/6VII), but Meissner notes (Meissner 226) that the pl. can be used in gold-kennings, not only for poetic emphasis but also to suggest individual items of gold. Bála may, alternatively or additionally, have been preferred for its disyllabic form.
bála ‘of the pyres’
(not checked:)
bál (noun n.; °-s; -): fire
kennings
tolf viðu bála elfar‘twelve trees of the pyres of the river ’
= MEN
the pyres of the river → GOLD
twelve trees of the GOLD → MEN
notes
[1, 2] bála elfar ‘of the pyres of the river [GOLD]’: Bál ‘pyre’ as the base-word in gold-kennings is not normally pl. (Meissner 229-30, though cf. Kálf Kátr 11/6VII), but Meissner notes (Meissner 226) that the pl. can be used in gold-kennings, not only for poetic emphasis but also to suggest individual items of gold. Bála may, alternatively or additionally, have been preferred for its disyllabic form.
olli ‘caused’
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valda (verb): cause
Ôleifr ‘Óláfr’
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Óláfr (noun m.): Óláfr
falli ‘death’
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fall (noun n.; °-s; *-): fall
eir ‘the merci’
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eir (noun f.): mercy < eirsamr (adj.): merciful
[4] eirsamr: ‘eiarsamr’ R686ˣ, eirlaust 972ˣ, Peringskiöld 1697 I
notes
[4] eirsamr ‘merciful’: No text has precisely this spelling, but it seems to be indicated by the readings and by the context. Eirsamr is preferable as the lectio difficilior, while the variant eirlaust ‘mercilessly’ is doubtless influenced by ‑laust in l. 2. Kock (NN §1870) points out that Sigvatr uses the paradox of the gentle, merciful king dealing ruthlessly with miscreants again in st. 5.
samr ‘ful’
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samr (adj.; °compar. -ari): same < eirsamr (adj.): merciful
[4] eirsamr: ‘eiarsamr’ R686ˣ, eirlaust 972ˣ, Peringskiöld 1697 I
notes
[4] eirsamr ‘merciful’: No text has precisely this spelling, but it seems to be indicated by the readings and by the context. Eirsamr is preferable as the lectio difficilior, while the variant eirlaust ‘mercilessly’ is doubtless influenced by ‑laust in l. 2. Kock (NN §1870) points out that Sigvatr uses the paradox of the gentle, merciful king dealing ruthlessly with miscreants again in st. 5.
konungr ‘king’
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king
þeira ‘their’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
Svía ‘of the Swedes’
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Svíar (noun m.): Swedes
kennings
sóknstríðs tyggja Svía‘of the battle-hard king of the Swedes ’
= Óláfr sœnski
the battle-hard king of the Swedes → Óláfr sœnski
tyggja ‘king’
(not checked:)
tyggi (noun m.): prince, sovereign
[5] tyggja: so 972ˣ, Peringskiöld 1697 I, ‘tiggi’ R686ˣ
kennings
sóknstríðs tyggja Svía‘of the battle-hard king of the Swedes ’
= Óláfr sœnski
the battle-hard king of the Swedes → Óláfr sœnski
leitk ‘I saw’
(not checked:)
líta (verb): look, see; appear
[5] leitk (‘leit ek’): so Peringskiöld 1697 I, ‘lett ek’ R686ˣ, lét ek 972ˣ
notes
[1, 5] frák; leitk ‘I heard; I saw’: If these are taken literally, Sigvatr was not present at the capture of the Swedish party, but did witness their subsequent hanging.
seggi ‘the men’
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seggr (noun m.; °; -ir): man
sóknstríðs ‘of the battle-hard’
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sóknstríðr (adj.): [battle-hard]
kennings
sóknstríðs tyggja Svía‘of the battle-hard king of the Swedes ’
= Óláfr sœnski
the battle-hard king of the Swedes → Óláfr sœnski
notes
[6] firum ‘for the men’: Kock (NN §656) suggests reading this with sóknstríðs, giving ‘hard in battle against men’, but this construction seems awkward, and what Kock calls Finnur Jónsson’s paranteskonglomerat ‘conglomeration of parentheses’ is preferable in a helmingr where there is interlacing of clauses under any interpretation.
ríða ‘ride’
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1. ríða (verb): ride
bǫl ‘harm’
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bǫl (noun n.; °-s, dat. bǫlvi): evil
vas ‘was’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
brátt ‘quickly’
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bráðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): quick(ly)
til ‘to’
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til (prep.): to
Heljar ‘Hel’
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1. hel (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju): death, Hel, hell
notes
[7] Heljar ‘Hel’: The realm of the dead, and the monstrous goddess presiding over it (see Note to HSt Rst 34/1, 4).
mest ‘the greatest’
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meiri (adj. comp.; °meiran; superl. mestr): more, most
Sigars ‘of Sigarr’
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Sigarr (noun m.): Sigarr
kennings
hesti Sigars‘the horse of Sigarr ’
= GALLOWS
the horse of Sigarr → GALLOWS
notes
[8] hesti Sigars ‘the horse of Sigarr <legendary king> [GALLOWS]’: See Note to Eyv Hál 4/5.
hesti ‘the horse’
(not checked:)
hestr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): horse, stallion
kennings
hesti Sigars‘the horse of Sigarr ’
= GALLOWS
the horse of Sigarr → GALLOWS
notes
[8] hesti Sigars ‘the horse of Sigarr <legendary king> [GALLOWS]’: See Note to Eyv Hál 4/5.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
|
Tolf frák tekna elfar |
I heard without equivocation that twelve trees of the pyres of the river [GOLD > MEN] were captured; Óláfr, the merciful king, caused their death. I saw the men of the battle-hard king of the Swedes [= Óláfr sœnski] ride the horse of Sigarr <legendary king> [GALLOWS] to Hel; the greatest harm was quickly prepared for the men.
ÓH 1941, I, 110 (ch. 45) and Hkr (ÍF 27, 74-7) recount that, early in his reign, King Óláfr’s men capture and hang Ásgautr, one of the two messengers sent by King Óláfr of Sweden to collect taxes from the farmers of Norway, along with his eleven followers. The stanza is cited only in the transcriptions of the lost Uppsala ms.
The surviving texts of this stanza seem to derive from the lost Uppsala ms. (*U) of ÓH (see ÓH 1941, II, 1086).
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