Sigv Víkv 15I
Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Víkingarvísur 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. 554.
eikr ‘’
notes
[All]: This stanza is preserved on one of the surviving leaves of the Hkr ms. J, the vellum Jöfraskinna. The text in J2ˣ was copied from K and hence also belongs to the Hkr redaction, unlike the remainder of the Víkv stanzas in J2ˣ, which belong to the ÓH redaction. Holm4 is dark and damaged at this point, and some of its readings uncertain; ÓH 1941 has been consulted.
lét ‘’
(not checked:)
láta (verb): let, have sth done
sér ‘there was’
(not checked:)
sik (pron.; °gen. sín, dat. sér): (refl. pron.)
at ‘to’
(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
notes
[All]: The same incident is referred to in Ótt Hfl 16.
sœkja ‘seek’
(not checked:)
sœkja (verb): seek, attack
sund ‘’
(not checked:)
sund (noun n.; °-s; -): sound, strait; swimming
notes
[2, 3, 4] fornu Sauðungssundi ‘ancient Sauesund’: It is not clear why this place is described as ‘ancient, old’, except that forn- supplies alliteration and rhyme. It is on the south-east coast of the island of Atløy, in Sunnfjord, Sogn og Fjordane, on the west coast of Norway and thus on an important sailing-route.
nauðr ‘’
(not checked:)
neyð (noun f.; °dat. -): need, distress
nauðir ‘need for him’
(not checked:)
neyð (noun f.; °dat. -): need, distress
[2] konungr nauðir: om. 75c; nauðir: nauðr R686ˣ
freindr ‘’
frendar ‘’
frægðar ‘’
(not checked:)
frægð (noun f.): fame
fremðar ‘for glory’
(not checked:)
fremð (noun f.): honour
[3] fremðar: ‘freindr’ R686ˣ, ‘frendar’ 321ˣ, frægðar 68, 61, Holm4, 325V, Flat, Tóm
notes
[3] fremðar ‘for glory’: Or ‘advancement’. The variant frægðar ‘for fame’ is also possible.
gjarn ‘eager’
(not checked:)
gjarn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): eager
í ‘in’
(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into
fornu ‘ancient’
(not checked:)
forn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): ancient, old
notes
[2, 3, 4] fornu Sauðungssundi ‘ancient Sauesund’: It is not clear why this place is described as ‘ancient, old’, except that forn- supplies alliteration and rhyme. It is on the south-east coast of the island of Atløy, in Sunnfjord, Sogn og Fjordane, on the west coast of Norway and thus on an important sailing-route.
í ‘’
(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into
Hô ‘with Há’
(not checked:)
3. hár (adj.; °-van; compar. hǽrri, superl. hǽstr): high < Hákon (noun m.): Hákon
[4] Hôkunar: ‘hakonr’ 321ˣ
notes
[4] Hôkunar ‘with Hákon’: For Hákon jarl Eiríksson (r. c. 1014-c. 1015), see ‘Ruler biographies’ in Introduction to this volume.
kunar ‘kon’
(not checked:)
1. kyn (noun n.; °-s; -): kin < Hákon (noun m.): Hákon
[4] Hôkunar: ‘hakonr’ 321ˣ
notes
[4] Hôkunar ‘with Hákon’: For Hákon jarl Eiríksson (r. c. 1014-c. 1015), see ‘Ruler biographies’ in Introduction to this volume.
sundi ‘sund’
(not checked:)
sund (noun n.; °-s; -): sound, strait; swimming
notes
[2, 3, 4] fornu Sauðungssundi ‘ancient Sauesund’: It is not clear why this place is described as ‘ancient, old’, except that forn- supplies alliteration and rhyme. It is on the south-east coast of the island of Atløy, in Sunnfjord, Sogn og Fjordane, on the west coast of Norway and thus on an important sailing-route.
stangr ‘’
hitti ‘met’
(not checked:)
hitta (verb): meet, encounter
þar ‘there’
(not checked:)
þar (adv.): there
þengill ‘prince’
(not checked:)
þengill (noun m.): prince, ruler
jarl ‘jarl’
(not checked:)
jarl (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): poet, earl
es ‘who’
(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when
varð ‘’
(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be
vas ‘was’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
[6] vas (‘var’): varð Holm2, 325VI, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 78aˣ, 68, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, Flat, Tóm
notes
[6] vas ‘was’: The variant varð ‘became’ is also possible.
annarr ‘the second’
(not checked:)
1. annarr (pron.; °f. ǫnnur, n. annat; pl. aðrir): (an)other, second
ǿttr ‘’
œzt ‘’
(not checked:)
œðri (adj. comp.): nobler, higher
ok ‘and’
(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
gat ‘had’
(not checked:)
2. geta (verb): to beget, give birth to, mention, speak of; to think well of, like, love
bezta ‘the best’
(not checked:)
betri (adj. comp.; °superl. beztr/baztr; pos. góðr adj.): better, best
ungi ‘’
(not checked:)
ungr (adj.): young
ungra ‘’
(not checked:)
ungr (adj.): young
ung(e) ‘’
(not checked:)
ungr (adj.): young
ungr ‘[when] young’
(not checked:)
ungr (adj.): young
[8] ungr á: ‘ung(e) a’(?) J2ˣ, ungra 321ˣ; ungr: ungi J
notes
[8] á danska tungu ‘in the Danish-speaking world’: Lit. ‘in the Danish tongue’. This appears to be the earliest recorded use of this common phrase referring to the whole of the Scandinavian-speaking area.
danska ‘the Danish-speaking’
(not checked:)
danskr (adj.): Danish
notes
[8] á danska tungu ‘in the Danish-speaking world’: Lit. ‘in the Danish tongue’. This appears to be the earliest recorded use of this common phrase referring to the whole of the Scandinavian-speaking area.
tungu ‘world’
(not checked:)
tunga (noun f.; °-u; -ur): tongue, language
notes
[8] á danska tungu ‘in the Danish-speaking world’: Lit. ‘in the Danish tongue’. This appears to be the earliest recorded use of this common phrase referring to the whole of the Scandinavian-speaking area.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Óláfr uses an ingenious naval trap to capture his young rival Hákon jarl Eiríksson and lets him go on condition he swears never to oppose the king.
[5-8]: Most commentators are agreed that the rel. clause qualifies þann jarl ‘that jarl’, and hence that the praise in the second helmingr refers to Hákon rather than Óláfr. If Hákon is the second best, presumably Óláfr is best, so there is also indirect praise of him. Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV) thought it impossible that Hákon jarl could be praised so highly in a poem about Óláfr, and took the rel. clause to refer to Óláfr, suggesting that the poet had Óláfr Tryggvason in mind as the best ruler.
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