Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Erfidrápa Óláfs helga 6’ 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. 672.
Vissi helzt, þats hvǫssum
hundmǫrgum lét grundar
vǫrðr með vôpnum skorða
víkingum skǫr, ríkis.
Mildr lét mǫrgu valdit
Magnúss faðir gagni;
fremð Ôleifs kveðk frǫmðu
flestan sigr ins digra.
Vissi helzt ríkis, þats {vǫrðr grundar} lét skorða skǫr hundmǫrgum víkingum með hvǫssum vôpnum. {Mildr faðir Magnúss} lét valdit mǫrgu gagni; kveðk flestan sigr frǫmðu fremð Ôleifs ins digra.
It demonstrated [his] power most clearly, that {the guardian of the land} [KING = Óláfr] had the hair of very many vikings cut with sharp weapons. {The gracious father of Magnús} [= Óláfr] brought about many a victory; I declare that most victories promoted the pre-eminence of Óláfr inn digri (‘the Stout’).
Mss: Kˣ(439r) (Hkr); Holm2(59v), 321ˣ(226), 73aˣ(183r-v), 68(59r), Holm4(57vb), 61(118ra), 325V(71va), 325VII(33r), Bb(191ra-b), Flat(119vb-120ra), Tóm(148r), 325XI 2 g(4vb) (ll. 1-2) (ÓH)
Readings: [1] helzt: heldr 61, Bb, Flat, Tóm; þats (‘þat er’): þar er 68, Holm4, 61, Flat, Tóm, þá er Bb [2] hund‑: ‘hvn’ 325VII; ‑mǫrgum: mǫrk 321ˣ, morginn 73aˣ; grundar: grandat 68, Bb, om. 325XI 2 g [3] vǫrðr: vǫrðum 68; skorða: om. Holm2, hǫrðum 321ˣ, 73aˣ, skerða 68, Holm4, 325VII, skorna 61, Bb, Flat, Tóm [4] víkingum: víkinginn 73aˣ, víkinga 68 [5] lét: hefir 61, Bb, Flat, Tóm; mǫrgu: mǫrgum Bb; valdit: valda 325V, 325VII [7] fremð: frægð 321ˣ, 73aˣ, frændr 325V, 325VII; frǫmðu: framði 321ˣ, 73aˣ, fundu 325VII [8] ins: hinn 73aˣ, enn Holm4; digra: digri 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Tóm
Editions: Skj AI, 258, Skj BI, 240, Skald I, 124, NN §§658, 3068; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 421-2, IV, 159-60, ÍF 27, 330, Hkr 1991, II, 493 (ÓHHkr ch. 181); ÓH 1941, I, 502 (ch. 177), Flat 1860-8, II, 316; Jón Skaptason 1983, 161, 303.
Context: As for st. 4.
Notes: [1] þats ‘that’: It seems that þat refers back to the implicit subject of vissi ‘demonstrated’ (impersonal in the Text, subject expressed as ‘it’ in the Translation), and that [e]s is the rel. particle (cf. NS §267a). — [2, 3, 4] lét … skorða skǫr ‘had the hair … cut’: Cf. Note to st. 4/5, 8. Skorða is f. acc. sg. p. p. of skora, a syncopated form of the expected skoraða. The literal sense of the verb is ‘to score, cut into’, thereby suggesting that it is not after all just a haircut (for which the variant skorna, f. acc. sg. p. p. of skera ‘cut’ would be the usual word); cf. Note to st. 4/5, 8. — [4] víkingum ‘vikings’: These are the Norwegians who have been causing trouble in the kingdom (see Context to st. 4); on the shades of meaning of this word, see Jesch (2001a, 49-54). — [7] frǫmðu ‘promoted’: A past inf. within an acc. + inf. construction (kveðk) flestan sigr frǫmðu, lit. ‘(I declare) most victories to have promoted’. Past infinitives occur relatively frequently in the poem: cf. st. 12/3 gingu ‘went’, st. 13/1 vôru ‘was’ and st. 18/2 kenndu ‘taught’. — [8] flestan sigr ‘most victories’: Grammatically sg., ‘most victory’.
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