Sigv Vestv 6^I

Heim erum hingat komnir
— hygg at, jǫfurr skatna —
— menn nemi môl, sem innik,
mín — stallarar þínir.
Seg, hvar sess hafið hugðan
seims, þjóðkonungr, beimum
(allr es þekkr) með þollum
(þinn skáli mér innan).

Erum komnir heim hingat, stallarar þínir; hygg at, jǫfurr skatna; menn nemi môl mín, sem innik. Seg, þjóðkonungr, hvar hafið hugðan beimum sess með {þollum seims}; allr skáli þinn es mér þekkr innan.

We have come home here, your marshals; consider [that], prince of men [Óláfr]; let people take note of my words as I utter them. Say, mighty king, where you have decided on a seat for men [us] among {the firs of gold} [MEN]; all the inside of your hall is agreeable to me.

Mss: Kˣ(418v), J2ˣ(201v) (Hkr); Holm2(54v), 972ˣ(399va), 321ˣ(192), 73aˣ(165r), 68(52r), Holm4(48vb), 61(113vb), 75c(34v-35r), 325V(61vb), Bb(183vb), Flat(116ra-b), Tóm(141v) (ÓH)

Readings: [2] hygg (‘hygg þu’): hugða Holm2;    at: om. Bb, Tóm;    jǫfurr: konungr 68, jǫfurr at því Bb    [3] innik: ‘[...]’ 75c    [4] mín: minn J2ˣ;    stallarar: stallari 61, stallara Flat;    þínir: þínu 61    [5] Seg: ‘seigu’ 972ˣ;    sess: þess Holm2;    hafið: hefr 972ˣ    [6] seims: ‘semis’ or seims 321ˣ, seim 61, 75c, Bb, Flat;    beimum: so Holm2, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 68, Holm4, 61, 325V, Bb, Flat, beima corrected from seima Kˣ, beima J2ˣ, 972ˣ, Tóm    [7] allr: allt 321ˣ;    þekkr: þaktr 75c, þokkr Bb, þýðum Tóm;    með: om. Tóm;    þollum: þollr 68

Editions: Skj AI, 242-3, Skj BI, 227, Skald I, 118, NN §§634, 1879, 1914C, 2258, 2983; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 380, IV, 148, ÍF 27, 292-3, Hkr 1991, II, 466 (ÓHHkr ch. 160); ÓH 1941, I, 455 (ch. 152), Flat 1860-8, II, 288; Jón Skaptason 1983, 109, 251-2.

Context: In a chapter focusing on Sigvatr, the passage refers back to the time when, having received permission from Knútr to sail to Norway (see st. 2 and its Context), Sigvatr goes directly to King Óláfr in Borg (Sarpsborg). The king does not return his greeting.

Notes: [All]: For sts 6 and 7, the text in J2ˣ was copied from K and hence belongs to the Hkr redaction, unlike the remainder of the Vestv stanzas in J2ˣ, which belong to the ÓH redaction. — [4, 6] stallarar þínir; beimum ‘your marshals; men [us]’: The prose account makes no mention of any travelling companions, though such are referred to in sts 1/1 (Bergr) and 5/4 (Húnn = Bersi). Alternatively, the plurals could have sg. reference, and that is how they are taken in Skj B and ÍF 27. — [6-8]: Kock (NN §634) achieves a simpler word order by construing seims ‘of gold’ with þjóðkonungr ‘mighty king’, but the parallels he cites for this unusual expression (not a kenning) are not convincing, and þollum ‘firs’ is left without a determinant. — [7, 8] allr skáli þinn es mér þekkr innan ‘all the inside of your hall is agreeable to me’: Lit. ‘all your hall is agreeable to me on the inside’. This could mean that Sigvatr would be happy to sit anywhere in the hall (so ÍF 27; also Hkr 1991), though in the light of l. 1 it may rather be the poet stressing that he has returned to his rightful place, despite his visit to Knútr in England. It seems to have been understood in this way by Snorri (ÍF 27, 293) who after citing st. 7 says that Óláfr directed Sigvatr to his usual seat.

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. 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 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
7. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
8. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
10. 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.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 25 April 2024)
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ 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=53> (accessed 25 April 2024)
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 25 April 2024)
15. Judith Jesch 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Vestrfararvísur’ 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. 615. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1361> (accessed 25 April 2024)