Sigv ErfÓl 5^I

Fœddi mest, sás meiddi,
margdýrr konungr varga,
hvinna ætt ok hlenna;
hann stýfði svá þýfðir.
Þýðr lét þermlask bæði
þjóf hvern konungr ernan
(friðr bœttisk svá) fóta
(fylkis lands) ok handa.

Margdýrr konungr, sás meiddi ætt hvinna ok hlenna, fœddi mest varga; hann stýfði svá þýfðir. Þýðr konungr lét hvern ernan þjóf þermlask bæði fóta ok handa; svá bœttisk friðr lands fylkis.

The very glorious king, who maimed the race of pilferers and thieves, fed wolves the most; he cut down thefts in this way. The kind king caused each swift thief to lack both feet and hands; in this way the peace of the prince’s land was improved.

Mss: Kˣ(439r) (Hkr); Holm2(59v), 321ˣ(225-226), 73aˣ(183r), 68(59r), Holm4(57vb), 61(118ra), 325V(71rb-va), 325VII(33r), Bb(191ra), Flat(119vb), Tóm(148r), 325XI 2 g(4vb) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] Fœddi: leiddi 61, Flat, Tóm, ‘Heddi’ Bb;    sás (‘sa er’): þar er 321ˣ, 73aˣ, sá Bb;    meiddi: mœddi 73aˣ    [2] marg‑: mǫrg Flat;    ‑dýrr: ‑byr Bb;    varga: vǫrgum 61, Bb, Flat, Tóm    [3] hvinna: hinna 61, vinna 325VII, himna Flat, Tóm;    ok: at 61, Bb, Flat, Tóm;    hlenna: hlanna 61, Tóm, ‘hlęna’ Bb, hlamma Flat    [4] hann: herr 68, 325VII, 325XI 2 g;    stýfði: skýfði 73aˣ, Bb, stýfði þá 325V;    þýfðir: þýfða 61, Flat, Tóm, stýfða Bb    [5] Þýðr: ‘þvðr’ 325V;    lét: om. 325XI 2 g;    þermlask: þornask 321ˣ, þarnask 73aˣ, 68, ‘þerflaz’ Holm4, 61, ‘þerblaz’ 325V, ‘þerfazt’ Bb, þrífask Tóm    [6] ernan: erna Holm2, 73aˣ, enna 321ˣ, ‘ernin’ 325V    [7] friðr bœttisk: frið bœtti hann 61, Bb, Flat, Tóm    [8] fylkis: ‘fykir’ 61, fylkir Bb, Flat, fylki Tóm;    lands: ríki(?) Tóm;    handa: lýða 73aˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 258, Skj BI, 240, Skald I, 124, NN §659; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 421, IV, 159, ÍF 27, 329-30, Hkr 1991, II, 493 (ÓHHkr ch. 181); ÓH 1941, I, 502 (ch. 177), Flat 1860-8, II, 316; Jón Skaptason 1983, 160, 303.

Context: See Context for st. 4, which this stanza follows without interruption.

Notes: [1] fœddi; meiddi ‘fed; maimed’: (a) In these lines the main topic of the stanza, Óláfr’s punishment of malefactors, is expressed in the rel. clause sás meiddi ‘who maimed’, while the subsidiary topic, his feeding of wolves (by slaying the enemy) is in the main clause. (b) This situation is reversed by Kock (NN §659), who argues that the line originally read Meiddi … fœddi (and duly emends in Skald), but as his only evidence for this is the reading Leiddi (for initial Meiddi) in three inferior mss, it seems unlikely. (c) Jón Skaptason (1983) does not emend, but adopts Kock’s suggestion that the rel. clause is sás fœddi varga ‘who fed wolves’. However, this reading assumes very convoluted syntax, in which the rel. sás is separated from its verb fœddi.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
9. 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.
10. Internal references
11. (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)