Sigv ErfÓl 8^I

Ǫld vann Ôleifr fellda
(ǫflgan sigr) inn digri
(gekk sóknþorinn sœkja
synjór framm í brynju).
En, þeirs austan nenna,
— óx hildr — með gram mildum
— mart segik bert — í bjarta
blóðrǫst Svíar óðu.

Ôleifr inn digri vann fellda ǫld; sóknþorinn synjór gekk framm í brynju sœkja ǫflgan sigr. En Svíar, þeirs nenna austan, óðu í bjarta blóðrǫst með mildum gram; hildr óx; segik mart bert.

Óláfr inn digri (‘the Stout’) cut down men; the battle-daring seigneur advanced in his mail-shirt to seek a powerful victory. And the Swedes, who travel from the east, waded into the bright current of blood alongside the gracious prince; battle intensified; I say much plainly.

Mss: Kˣ(461r-v) (Hkr); Holm2(65v), J2ˣ(222r), 73aˣ(197r), 68(64v), Holm4(60vb), 61(123rb), 325V(79va), 325VII(36r), Bb(197ra), Flat(123va), Tóm(153v) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] Ôleifr fellda: Ôleif felldan Holm2, J2ˣ, 73aˣ, 68, 325V, Bb    [2] ǫflgan: opt vann 61;    digri: digra 73aˣ, 68    [3] sœkja: ‘sǫcku’ J2ˣ, søkkva 61    [4] synjór: so 325V, 325VII, Bb, Tóm, ‘sinnior’ Kˣ, J2ˣ, Holm4, ‘sinior’ Holm2, 68, ‘suinnor’ 73aˣ, ‘syniur’ 61, Flat    [5] þeirs (‘þeir er’): þar er J2ˣ, 325V, er 61, Bb, Flat, Tóm, þeir 325VII;    austan: ‘æystan’ 325VII;    nenna: runnu J2ˣ, stefna 61, nefna 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm    [6] óx: hófsk 325V, Flat, Tóm, ‘hofizt’ Bb    [7] mart: om. 73aˣ;    segik (‘segi ec’): sveif J2ˣ, ek segi 73aˣ;    bert: beit 325V;    bjarta: ‘bjartu’ 73aˣ, hjarta 325VII    [8] blóð‑: blóð‑ corrected from hlóð‑ 325VII

Editions: Skj AI, 259, Skj BI, 241, Skald I, 125, NN §660; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 470, IV, 166, ÍF 27, 367-8, Hkr 1991, II, 520-1 (ÓHHkr ch. 213); ÓH 1941, I, 554 (ch. 210), Flat 1860-8, II, 346; Jón Skaptason 1983, 163, 303.

Context: King Óláfr’s armour and weapons at the battle of Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad) are described.

Notes: [1-4]: (a) The present edn (with ÍF 27 and Hkr 1991) retains the version of l. 2 found in the main ms. and all other mss but one. This entails taking sœkja ǫflgan sigr ‘seek a powerful victory’ together, although it would be natural to read sœkja framm as an intransitive phrase meaning ‘advance’. (b) Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and Kock (Skald; NN §660) prefer the reading opt vann sigr ‘he often won victory’ in l. 2, but since this is found only in 61 it is clearly secondary, and the repetition of vann from l. 1 may indicate corruption. Despite this common starting-point, the two eds construe the lines differently. Finnur Jónsson takes sóknþorinn ‘(the) battle-daring (one)’ (l. 3) as the subject of vann ‘won’ (l. 2). Kock argues that the helmingr consists of three end-stopped sentences (l. 1, l. 2, and ll. 3-4), with inn digri ‘the Stout (one)’ (l. 2) as the subject of vann, but there are no parallels to Óláfr being referred to by his epithet alone. — [4] synjór ‘seigneur’: Although de Vries (AEW: sinjórr) claims that this adoption from OFr. seignor ‘lord’ is only spät bezeugt ‘attested late’, it occurs twice in Sigvatr’s poetry and may have been introduced by him; see Sigv Berv 18/4^II and Note. The mss show uncertainty about the first syllable; here the rhyming context suggests syn- while in Berv 18/4^II it suggests sin(n)-. — [5] nenna ‘travel’: The pres. tense seems to refer to the Swedes’ ongoing willingness to travel west to Norway, and perhaps to takes sides in Norwegian conflicts. Óláfr’s return to Norway from Russia in 1029 was via Sweden and Snorri (ÍF 27, 348) relates that he came with a troop of 480 men provided by the king of the Swedes. That Óláfr had hoped for more is implied by st. 9/1-4. It is suggested in Hkr 1893-1901, IV (also ÍF 27) that there is a still more specific allusion to Swedish support for the boy king Magnús Óláfsson on his return to Norway c. 1035; this would have obvious implications for the dating of the poem (see Introduction). — [7] bert ‘plainly’: An allusion to Sigvatr’s Bersǫglisvísur ‘Plain-speaking Vísur’ (Sigv Berv^II) seems likely, especially when Sigvatr himself uses the word bersǫgli ‘plain-speaking’ there (Sigv Berv 9/4^II) and when the rare word synjórr/sinjórr occurs in both poems (see Note to l. 4 above). — [7-8] bjarta blóðrǫst ‘the bright current of blood’: Although kenning-like, this phrase has no real parallels. Battle-kennings with a base-word meaning ‘stream’ (cf. vápnrǫst ‘weapon-current’ in the C13th Anon (Stu) 43/2^IV) do not have ‘blood’ as their determinant (Meissner 199-200), while those with ‘blood’ as their determinant have a word meaning ‘storm’ as their base-word (Meissner 186).

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. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
6. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
7. 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.
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 16 April 2024)
15. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Bersǫglisvísur’ 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. 11-30. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1352> (accessed 16 April 2024)
16. Not published: do not cite (Anon (Stu) 43^IV)
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Bersǫglisvísur 18’ 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. 30.
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Bersǫglisvísur 9’ 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. 20-1.
19. Not published: do not cite ()