Sigv ErfÓl 19^I

Hǫrðs, síz hermenn firrðu
— hlíf raufsk fyr gram — lífi,
auðn at Engla stríði
ómjúk, konung sjúkan.
Ǫr brá Ôleifs fjǫrvi
ǫld, þars herr klauf skjǫldu;
folks odda gekk fylkir
fund, en Dagr helt undan.

Hǫrð, ómjúk auðn [e]s at {stríði Engla}, síz hermenn firrðu sjúkan konung lífi; hlíf raufsk fyr gram. Ǫr ǫld brá fjǫrvi Ôleifs, þars herr klauf skjǫldu; fylkir folks gekk {fund odda}, en Dagr helt undan.

There is a hard, unyielding desolation after [the death of] {the opponent of the English} [= Óláfr], since warriors removed the wounded king from life; the shield was sundered in front of the ruler. The bold troop destroyed the life of Óláfr, where the army clove shields; the leader of the army advanced into {the meeting of points} [BATTLE], but Dagr headed away.

Mss: Kˣ(477r-v) (Hkr); Holm2(69v), J2ˣ(230r) (ll. 1-4), 321ˣ(263), 73aˣ(205r-v), Holm4(65va), 61(127ra), 325V(83rb), 325VII(39v), Bb(200vb), Flat(126ra), Tóm(157v) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] Hǫrðs (‘Hǫrð er’): ‘hǫr er’ 73aˣ, 325V, hǫrð var Tóm;    síz hermenn: sú er menn Tóm;    firrðu: gerðu all others    [2] raufsk: rauzk J2ˣ, raufi 321ˣ, rauf 73aˣ, 325V, rauzt Holm4, róf Bb;    lífi: om. Bb    [3] auðn: ǫnd Holm2, J2ˣ, 73aˣ, Holm4, 61, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm, auð 321ˣ;    stríði: sendi J2ˣ, Holm4, 61, Flat, strindi 73aˣ    [5] Ǫr: of 61, auk Bb, ok Flat, Tóm    [6] klauf: hlaup Bb, ‘[…]’ Flat    [7] folks: fjúks Tóm;    gekk: komsk 321ˣ, fekk 73aˣ, Tóm    [8] fund: fundr Holm4

Editions: Skj AI, 262, Skj BI, 243, Skald I, 126, NN §§1117, 2479, 2480E; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 504, IV, 173, ÍF 27, 393-4, Hkr 1991, II, 540 (ÓHHkr ch. 235); ÓH 1941, I, 586 (ch. 235), Flat 1860-8, II, 366; Jón Skaptason 1983, 174, 307-8.

Context: Stanzas 19 and 20 follow on from some comments on the date and time of Óláfr’s death and are introduced as Sigvatr’s words about the close of the battle.

Notes: [1, 3] firrðu; auðn ‘removed; desolation’: Although both readings are found only in Kˣ (and papp18ˣ) they are adopted here as in previous eds. The variants in the remaining mss, respectively gerðu ‘made’ and ǫnd ‘breath’, do not give good sense. — [2] fyr gram ‘in front of the ruler’: Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B) takes this instead as ‘by the king’, to give det hårde skjold kløvedes af kongen ‘the hard shield was sundered by the king’. However, this assumes a non-standard sense of fyr and sits uneasily with the otherwise elegaic tone of this stanza. A further possibility is that fyr has the sense ‘to the disadvantage or disfavour of’ (LP: fyr, fyrir B4). — [3] auðn ‘desolation’: Lit. ‘wilderness, desert’. For the comparison of mood and landscape, cf. Sigv Lv 24. The desolation of the land on the death of a ruler is also mentioned in Eyv Hák 21, Hfr ErfÓl 28 and ÞKolb Eirdr 10. In each case a word etymologically related to auðn (adj. auðr ‘desolate(d)’ or eyðask ‘to be/become deserted’) is used. — [4] ómjúk ‘unyielding’: Following Kock (NN §1117) and ÍF 27, the adj. is construed with auðn ‘desolation’. Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B) construes it with hlíf ‘shield’. — [4] sjúkan ‘wounded’: Lit. ‘sick, ill’. Kock (NN §§1117, 2480E) points out that the adj. can have both meanings; cf., e.g., Blakkr Lv 2/6^II. — [7, 8] gekk fund odda ‘advanced into the meeting of points [BATTLE]’: This absolute usage of ganga + acc. is not common, but seems to mean ‘be present at’ (LP: ganga 2; Fritzner: ganga 10). — [7] fylkir folks ‘the leader of the army’: Folk can mean either ‘army’ or ‘battle’ (LP: folk 1, 2). (a) Kock’s suggestion (NN §2479) is adopted here, of construing folks ‘army’ with fylkir ‘leader’. (b) Alternatively, ǫld ǫr folks would give ‘the troop bold in battle’ (as in Skj B and ÍF 27). This entails a more complex word order. — [8] Dagr: Dagr Hringsson, a distant relative of the king (ÍF 27, 348), fought with his troop on Óláfr’s side (cf. Þorm Lv 22/4), but was eventually overpowered by the farmers’ army in a phase of the battle known as Dagshríð ‘Dagr’s blizzard’ (ÍF 27, 386; cf. Þorm Lv 24/8).

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. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
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. 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.
8. 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.
9. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
10. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
11. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
12. 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.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=152> (accessed 26 April 2024)
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Blakkr, Lausavísur 2’ 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. 650-1.
16. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Hákonarmál 21’ 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. 193.
17. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 28’ 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. 440.
18. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 24’ 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. 729.
19. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórðr Kolbeinsson, Eiríksdrápa 10’ 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. 503.
20. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 22’ 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. 837.
21. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 24’ 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. 840.