Sigv Vestv 2^I

Útan varðk, áðr Jóta
andspilli fekk’k stillis,
— melld sák hús fyr hauldi —
húsdyrr fyrir spyrjask.
En eyrendi óru
ôttungr í sal knátti
Gorms — berk opt á armi
járnstúkur — vel lúka.

Varðk spyrjask fyrir útan húsdyrr, áðr fekk’k andspilli {stillis Jóta}; sák melld hús fyr hauldi. En {ôttungr Gorms} knátti lúka eyrendi óru vel í sal; opt berk járnstúkur á armi.

I had to make enquiries from outside the main door before I got an audience with {the ruler of the Jótar} [DANISH KING = Knútr]; I saw a locked building in front of the man [me]. But {the descendant of Gormr} [DANISH KING = Knútr] was able to conclude our [my] errand well in the hall; I often wear iron sleeves on my arm.

Mss: Kˣ(406r) (Hkr); Holm2(51r), 972ˣ(368va), 321ˣ(181), 73aˣ(158r), 68(49r), Holm4(45rb), 61(111rb), 325V(57rb), Bb(180va), Flat(114vb), Tóm(137v) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] Útan: nátt 325V;    varðk: verð 321ˣ, varð 325V;    áðr: so 73aˣ, 61, 325V, áðr enn Kˣ, Holm2, 972ˣ, 321ˣ, 68, Holm4, þá er Bb, Flat, áðr at Tóm;    Jóta: ‘iata’ 73aˣ, Tóm    [2] ‑spilli: ‘‑spillín’ Tóm;    fekk’k (‘fecc ec’): fekk 61, 325V, Bb, Flat;    stillis: stillir 325V, Flat    [3] melld: so Holm2, 972ˣ, 61, 325V, mæld Kˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 68, Holm4, Bb, Flat, ‘millz’ Tóm;    sák (‘sa ec’): sá Holm4, 61, 325V, Bb, Flat, fekk Tóm;    hús: her Kˣ, Holm2, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 68, herr Holm4, 61, 325V, Bb, Flat, Tóm;    fyr: ‑fǫr 68, um Tóm;    hauldi: haulda 972ˣ, hauldum 73aˣ, haldi 61, 325V, Bb, Flat, haldit Tóm    [4] hús‑: her‑ 61, Tóm;    fyrir spyrjask: spǫkum hlýra 61    [5] En eyrendi óru: om. Holm2;    En: áðr 321ˣ, 73aˣ;    eyrendi: ættgǫfugs 321ˣ, ‘eyrindr’ 61;    óru: átta 321ˣ, om. Tóm    [6] ôttungr: ôttugr 325V;    knátti: knátta 321ˣ, knáttu Bb, knúti Flat    [7] Gorms: grams 61, 325V;    opt: orms 68;    á: frá Tóm;    armi: járni Bb    [8] járn‑: ‘ꜹr’ 61;    ‑stúkur: ‑stúka 61, ‑stokkr Tóm;    lúka: leika 68, om. Tóm

Editions: Skj AI, 241, Skj BI, 226, Skald I, 117, NN §2472; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 351, IV, 142-3, ÍF 27, 271-2, Hkr 1991, II, 450 (ÓHHkr ch. 146); ÓH 1941, I, 426 (ch. 136), Flat 1860-8, II, 277; Jón Skaptason 1983, 105, 248.

Context: In England, Sigvatr goes to King Knútr, who is preparing military action against King Óláfr, to ask him for permission to sail to Norway. The king’s quarters are locked and he has to wait a long time, but eventually gets permission.

Notes: [3] melld ‘locked’: This was first explained in LP (1860): mæld as the p. p. of a verb mella deriving from a noun mella or malla meaning ‘lock, bolt’ (cf. also AEW: mella), and this explanation has been adopted by all eds since, though close parallels are lacking. — [3] hús ‘building’: While some mss spell out her or herr, the main ms. Kˣ abbreviates the word. Skj A transcribes this as ‘hus’, which is clearly the word needed here, but the abbreviation mark is the scribe’s usual one for -er (as in l. 7 ber) rather than for -us (as in l. 4 hus), and therefore emendation is required. Some of the other mss abbreviate this word, too, and it is likely that an ambiguous abbreviation at an early stage of transmission introduced the confusion. — [4] spyrjask fyrir ‘make enquiries’: While the prose word order might suggest that fyrir should be construed with útan ‘from outside’ it is, as Kock (NN §2472) notes, part of the prepositional verb spyrjask fyrir ‘to make enquiries’. Sigvatr uses the same construction in Austv 4/2, 4, in a context which, in a more comic vein, also pictures an approach to a building. — [8] járnstúkur ‘iron sleeves’: These could be either chain-mail or protective metal plates such as those found at Birka (Graham-Campbell 1980, 68, 75, 252; Stierna 2001, 40-3). The import of this statement is not clear. In ÍF 27 it is taken to indicate Sigvatr’s readiness to fight against Knútr, but it may rather mean that Sigvatr received armour as a gift from Knútr (cf. st. 5).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. 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. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
6. LP (1860) = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1860. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis. Copenhagen: Societas Regia antiquariorum septentrionalium.
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. Graham-Campbell, James and Dafydd Kidd. 1980. The Vikings. London: The British Museum and New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
13. 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.
14. Stierna, Niklas. 2001. ‘Birkas krigare och deras utrustning’. In Olausson 2001, 39-45.
15. Internal references
16. (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 23 April 2024)
17. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Austrfararvísur 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. 589.