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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Sigv Knútdr 4I

Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Knútsdrápa 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. 655.

Sigvatr ÞórðarsonKnútsdrápa
345

Þurðu norðan
— namsk þat — með gram
til slétts svalir
Silunds kilir.
En með annan
Ǫnundr Dǫnum
á hendr at há
her sœnskan ferr.

Svalir kilir þurðu norðan með gram til slétts Silunds; þat namsk. En Ǫnundr ferr með annan, sœnskan her at há á hendr Dǫnum.

Cool keels rushed from the north with the ruler [Óláfr] to level Zealand; that has been learned. And Ǫnundr travels with another, Swedish army at the oars against the Danes.

Mss: (405v) (Hkr); Holm2(51r), J2ˣ(195r), 321ˣ(180) (l. 1), 73aˣ(157v), 68(48v), Holm4(45ra), 61(111rb), 325V(57ra), 325VII(29v) (ll. 1-6), Bb(180va), Flat(114vb), Tóm(137v) (ÓH); FskBˣ(46v) (Fsk); DG8(92r) (ÓHLeg)

Readings: [1] Þurðu: þorðu Holm2, 68, 61, 325V, 325VII, DG8, þorðut Bb, Flat, þurði FskBˣ    [2] namsk þat: þat namsk 73aˣ, ‘nanizs þat’ Bb;    með: við DG8    [3] slétts: ‘slæs’ 68, ‘suez’ Tóm    [4] Silunds: ‘silur’ Holm2, Selunds J2ˣ, 73aˣ, 325V, Bb, ‘salundz’ 61;    kilir: skilit 61    [5] með annan: meðan Tóm, á annan veg DG8    [6] Ǫnundr Dǫnum: ‘ꜹnvn[…]’ 325VII    [7] at há: fara 61, Bb, hônum Flat, FskBˣ, á Tóm, ‘hætte’ DG8    [8] her: herr 61, 325V, Flat, DG8;    sœnskan: svænskan 73aˣ, DG8, senn skóg Tóm, ‘svænkan’ FskBˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 249, Skj BI, 233, Skald I, 121; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 350, IV, 142, ÍF 27, 270 (ÓHHkr ch. 145); ÓH 1941, I, 425 (ch. 135), Flat 1860-8, II, 276; Fsk 1902-3, 163 (ch. 27), ÍF 29, 184 (ch. 32); ÓHLeg 1922, 60, ÓHLeg 1982, 142-3.

Context: See Context to st. 3 above.

Notes: [1] þurðu ‘rushed’: Some mss appear to have substituted þorðu ‘dared’ (from þora, a common word) for þurðu (from þyrja, a word used only in poetry). — [3] slétts ‘level’: A popular adj. to qualify place names in skaldic verse: see LP: sléttr. — [4] Silunds ‘Zealand’: The Danish island of Zealand (Dan. Sjælland). The usual ON form is (nom. sg.) Selund, as witnessed by several ms. readings here and elsewhere (see LP: Selund for references). However, Silund is evidently an acceptable variant, deployed here to form an aðalhending on kilir. The name also varies between f. and n. gender; here the gen. sg. ‑s implies n. gender. — [6] Ǫnundr: King of the Swedes c. 1021-c. 1050 in succession to his father, Óláfr Eiríksson, and brother-in-law of Óláfr Haraldsson. — [7] at há ‘at the oars’: Hár ‘rowlock, oarport’ is a m. i-stem noun with endingless dat. sg. Here it has pl. or collective meaning and possibly gives the broader sense of ‘by ship’ (cf. Jesch 2001a, 155-6).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  3. 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.
  4. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
  5. 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.
  6. 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 4to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
  7. 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. 8II). Heidelberg: Winter.
  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. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
  11. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
  12. ÓHLeg 1922 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert, ed. 1922. Olafs saga hins helga efter pergamenthåndskrift i Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek, Delagardieske samling nr. 8II. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 47. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
  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 29 March 2024)
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