Sigv ErfÓl 7^I

Þórð frák þat sinn herða
— þreifsk sókn — með Ôleifi
(góð fóru þar) geirum
gǫrt víg (saman hjǫrtu).
Stǫng bar hôtt fyr Hringa
hjaldrmóðum gram bróðir
— fullt vann — fagrla gyllta
framlundaðr Ǫgmundar.

Frák Þórð þat sinn herða gǫrt víg geirum með Ôleifi; sókn þreifsk; góð hjǫrtu fóru þar saman. {Framlundaðr bróðir Ǫgmundar} bar hôtt fagrla gyllta stǫng fyr {hjaldrmóðum gram Hringa}; vann fullt.

I heard that Þórðr on that occasion intensified the full-scale battle with spears alongside Óláfr; the attack flourished; noble hearts advanced there together. {The eager-spirited brother of Ǫgmundr} [= Þórðr] carried high the beautifully gilded standard-pole before {the battle-bold prince of the Hringar} [NORWEGIAN KING = Óláfr]; he exerted himself to the utmost.

Mss: Kˣ(461r) (Hkr); Holm2(65v), J2ˣ(221v), 73aˣ(196v-197r), 68(64v), Holm4(60va), 61(123rb), 75e 4, 325V(79rb), 325VII(36r), Bb(197ra), Flat(123va), Tóm(153v) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] Þórð: Þórðr 73aˣ, Bb, Flat;    þat sinn: þar svá 61, 75e 4, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm;    herða: harða 325V, Tóm, harðan Flat    [2] þreifsk: þreifk Holm2, þreifs 75e 4;    sókn: ógn 75e 4, 325V, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, sogn Bb    [3] fóru: vôru 73aˣ;    geirum: ‘gierom’ 75e 4    [4] hjǫrtu: bjǫrtum Bb    [5] bar: bar hann 68    [6] hjaldr‑: ‘hulldr’ 73aˣ, hjaldrs Flat;    ‑móðum: móðan 73aˣ;    bróðir: bróður 61, 75e 4, 325V, Flat, Tóm, bróðir corrected from bróður 325VII    [7] fullt: fyllt 73aˣ, full 61, 75e 4, Bb, Tóm, ‘fulld’ Flat;    vann: om. Holm2, ok J2ˣ, 73aˣ;    fagrla: fagrliga Flat;    gyllta: gyllda 61, 75e 4, Bb, Flat, Tóm, gylltum 325V    [8] fram‑: frán‑ 68;    ‑lundaðr: ‘lunðr’ 73aˣ, búnaðr Tóm;    Ǫgmundar: Guðmundar 75e 4, 325V

Editions: Skj AI, 258-9, Skj BI, 240, Skald I, 124; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 469, IV, 165-6, ÍF 27, 366-7, Hkr 1991, II, 520 (ÓHHkr ch. 212); ÓH 1941, I, 553 (ch. 209), Flat 1860-8, II, 346; Jón Skaptason 1983, 162, 303.

Context: At the battle of Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad), it is said that King Óláfr’s standard-bearer was Þórðr Fólason.

Notes: [All]: For the introduction to the stanza in ÓH-Hkr, see Introduction to this poem. This is the first of several stanzas in ErfÓl commemorating Óláfr’s fatal last battle at Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad) in 1030; for the battle and other skaldic poetry associated with it, see further ‘Ruler biographies’ in Introduction to this volume. — [1] Þórð ‘Þórðr’: Þórðr Fólason is mentioned as Óláfr’s merkismaðr ‘standard-bearer’ in ch. 83 of Hkr (ÍF 27, 122) in an anecdote also involving the poet Sigvatr. Þórðr was killed at Stiklastaðir (ÍF 27, 380-1). — [1] frák ‘I heard’: The skaldic convention of presenting material as hearsay has a precise meaning here. According to Snorri Sturluson (ÍF 27, 358) Sigvatr was criticised for not having been present at the battle. See also sts 15/7-8 and 27 below, Sigv Lv 23, Þorm Lv 20 and their Contexts. — [4] gǫrt ‘full-scale’: The word is here construed as the adj. ‘complete, ample, mighty’, qualifying víg ‘battle’ (so also LP: gǫrr 1). It could alternatively be an adv., ‘amply’ (so ÍF 27). — [5] stǫng ‘standard-pole’: A stǫng may be any kind of a pole (Whaley 2005b), but here it refers to that which carries the king’s battle-standard (Jesch 2001a, 253-4) or possibly the standard itself; see also sts 11/4, 12/3 below. — [6, 8] bróðir Ǫgmundar ‘brother of Ǫgmundr’: Nothing is known of Ǫgmundr and whether he was also Fólason. — [8] framlundaðr ‘eager-spirited’: This could alternatively be taken with the intercalary vann fullt (so Skj B; Skald), hence ‘the eager-spirited one exerted himself to the utmost’.

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. 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.
5. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
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. 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.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
11. 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.
12. Whaley, Diana. 2005b. ‘The Semantics of stöng/stang’. In Gammeltoft et al. 2005, 244-70.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 19 April 2024)
15. (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 19 April 2024)
17. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 23’ 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. 728.
18. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 20’ 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. 833.