Sigv Knútdr 3^I

Knútr vas und himnum.
Hykk ætt at frétt
Haralds í her
hug vel duga.
Lét lýrgǫtu
lið suðr ór Nið
Óláfr jǫfurr
ársæll fara.

Knútr vas und himnum … Hykk at frétt hug duga {ætt Haralds} vel í her. Óláfr, ársæll jǫfurr, lét lið fara {lýrgǫtu} suðr ór Nið.

Knútr was under the heavens … I believe, according to reports, [his] courage served {the descendant of Haraldr} [= Óláfr] well in battle. Óláfr, the season-blessed prince, let his fleet travel {the pollack-path} [SEA] south from Nidelven.

Mss: Kˣ(405r-v) (Hkr); Holm2(51r), J2ˣ(194v-195r), 321ˣ(180), 73aˣ(157v), 68(48v), Holm4(45ra), 61(111rb), 325V(57ra), 325VII(29v), Bb(180va), Flat(114vb), Tóm(137v) (ÓH); FskBˣ(46r-v) (Fsk); DG8(92r) (ÓHLeg)

Readings: [1] vas (‘var’): varð 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Flat, er 68, FskBˣ;    und: om. 321ˣ, unn Tóm;    himnum: ítrum J2ˣ, om. 321ˣ, veg 73aˣ    [2] Hykk (‘hygg ec’): hygg 321ˣ, vil ek 73aˣ;    ætt: rétt 73aˣ, 325VII, Tóm, hætt 68, œztr 61;    at: af Bb;    frétt: ‘frætt’ J2ˣ, 321ˣ, 325V, FskBˣ, fæstr 61    [3] Haralds: ‘harr’ J2ˣ, ‘harra lads’ 61, ‘haralldar’ DG8;    í: ok 61;    her: hét 61    [4] hug: dug 321ˣ, full corrected from ‘hug(?)’ 61, ‘[…]’ 61, hygg 325V, hugr Bb, Flat;    vel: ‑leiks FskBˣ, DG8    [5] Lét: lét sér Flat;    lýr‑: so Holm2, J2ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 68, Tóm, lýt Kˣ, lý Holm4, hyrs‑ 61, lýð 325V, lúðr 325VII, lýðr Bb, Flat, lýs FskBˣ, ‘lyrs’ DG8;    ‑gǫtu: ‘‑od’ 61, gota 325V, 325VII, Tóm, gauta Bb, Flat    [6] lið: om. 61, lýðr 325V;    Nið: so Holm2, J2ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 68, Holm4, 61, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, FskBˣ, DG8, niðr Kˣ, om. Tóm    [8] ársæll: ‘atsell’ 61, ‘atsæll’ or ‘arsæll’ Flat;    fara: farðu 325V

Editions: Skj AI, 249, Skj BI, 232-3, Skald I, 120, NN §2516; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 350, IV, 141-2, ÍF 27, 270 (ÓHHkr ch. 145); ÓH 1941, I, 425 (ch. 135), Flat 1860-8, II, 276; Fsk 1902-3, 162 (ch. 27), ÍF 29, 184 (ch. 32); ÓHLeg 1922, 60, ÓHLeg 1982, 142-3.

Context: In ÓH-Hkr, Snorri illustrates his account of how Óláfr Haraldsson and the Swedish king Ǫnundr Óláfsson met up and ravaged Denmark by quoting sts 3-4. Fsk and ÓHLeg quote sts 3-6 as a sequence, after sts 7-8 and with only a brief introduction referring to Óláfr’s journey south.

Notes: [All]: See Note to st. 1 [All] for the introductory words in ÓH-Hkr. Fsk and ÓHLeg, having already cited sts 7-8, ascribe sts 3-6 to the same poem. — [1]: This line opens the poem’s klofastef ‘split refrain’, which is completed by st. 6/8 and repeats at st. 7/1; st. 6/8 repeats at sts 9/8 and 11/8. The complete refrain reads Knútr vas und himnum | hǫfuðfremstr jǫfurr, i.e. Knútr vas hǫfuðfremstr jǫfurr und himnum ‘Knútr was the most eminent prince under the heavens’. — [2, 3] ætt Haralds ‘the descendant of Haraldr [= Óláfr]’: Óláfr is also referred to as the heir or descendant of Haraldr in Sigv Lv 11/2 and Ótt Hfl 15/8. The reference is most likely to be to Óláfr’s father Haraldr grenski ‘from Grenland’, as in the unambiguous sonr Haralds ‘son of Haraldr’ (Þloft Glækv 4/3), though a claim of descent from Haraldr hárfagri is also possible. Cf. also Note to Sigv Ást 2/6. — [2] at frétt ‘according to reports’: Frétt is the f. noun ‘enquiry, intelligence, news, report’. — [3] í her ‘in battle’: (a) Although her most often means ‘army, host, people’, the sense ‘battle’ appears to occur in some compounds: see, e.g., LP: hernenninn ‘battle-eager’, hernuminn ‘captured in battle’. (b) If the sense here is ‘army’, the reference could be either to the courage of Óláfr’s troops or to his own courage among his troops. — [4] hug duga ... vel ‘[his] courage served ... well’: Lit. ‘courage to serve well’, duga ‘serve, avail, suffice’ being the inf. in an acc. with inf. construction. (a) Here hug ‘courage’ is taken as acc. sg., with ætt ‘descendant’ as dat. object to duga. (b) Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) takes ætt as acc. sg., which gives Hykk at frétt ætt Haralds duga vel hug i her, rendered loosely Jeg ved af fortælling, at Haralds sön var modig i kamp ‘I know from reports that Haraldr’s son was courageous in battle’. In LP: duga 1 Finnur explains duga here as absolute but construed with dat. hug ‘mind, courage’ . — [5] lýr- ‘pollack-’: Lýrr m. is a type of fish, probably the pollack or pollock (Pollachius pollachius). The commonest reading in the mss is lýr-, implying nom. sg. lýrr (cf. Fritzner: lýrr), and this is retained here. The nom. sg. form lýr (cf. CVC, LP: lýr) underlies the gen. sg. lýs printed in Skj B and Skald and the compounding form lý- in ÍF 27. Both nom. sg. spellings, ‘lyrr’ and ‘lyr’, are found in the ms. texts of Þul Fiska 3/8^III.

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. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
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. 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.
9. 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.
10. ÓHLeg 1982 = Heinrichs, Anne et al., eds and trans. 1982. Olafs saga hins helga: Die ‘Legendarische Saga’ über Olaf den Heiligen (Hs. Delagard. saml. nr. 8^II). Heidelberg: Winter.
11. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
12. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
13. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
14. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
15. ÓHLeg 1922 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert, ed. 1922. Olafs saga hins helga efter pergamenthåndskrift i Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek, Delagardieske samling nr. 8^II. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 47. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
16. Internal references
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga (Legendary)’ 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=31> (accessed 24 April 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 24 April 2024)
19. (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 24 April 2024)
20. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Fiska heiti 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 855.
21. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Hǫfuðlausn 15’ 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. 760.
22. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Poem about Queen Ástríðr 2’ 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. 648.
23. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 11’ 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. 712.
24. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórarinn loftunga, Glælognskviða 4’ 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. 869.