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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Sigv Lv 19I

R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 19’ 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. 724.

Sigvatr ÞórðarsonLausavísur
181920

hjalp ‘help’

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1. hjalpa (verb): help

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þeims ‘him who’

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2. er (conj.): who, which, when

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þínn ‘your’

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þinn (pron.; °f. þín, n. þitt): your

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vili ‘will’

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vilja (verb): want, intend

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mína ‘my’

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minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my

[2] mína: minni DG8, Flat(92vb), 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ, vinni Flat(187ra), skíri minni Tóm

notes

[2] mína ‘my’: This reading, found in none of the mss, was first adopted in CPB II, 142. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 203) explains that mína must have been altered to minni (dat. sg.) ‘my’ by a copyist who pronounced þínn with a short vowel and who believed that vowel plus -nn- could not rhyme with vowel plus -n- (cf., e.g., Lv 3/4 and Note).

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heim ‘home’

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heim (adv.): home, back

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ór ‘out of’

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3. ór (prep.): out of

[3] ór: af 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ

notes

[3-4] hóf ór heiðnum dómi ‘lifted out of heathendom’: Konráð Gíslason (1892, 205) argues that this is a secondary meaning for the phrase, and the meaning here should be the original one, ‘(lift up an unbaptized infant and) hold it over the baptismal font’. Olsen (1954, 190) compares the ecclesiastical expression suscipere de baptismo, lit. ‘lift out of baptism’.

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heiðnum ‘heathen’

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heiðinn (adj.): heathen

notes

[3-4] hóf ór heiðnum dómi ‘lifted out of heathendom’: Konráð Gíslason (1892, 205) argues that this is a secondary meaning for the phrase, and the meaning here should be the original one, ‘(lift up an unbaptized infant and) hold it over the baptismal font’. Olsen (1954, 190) compares the ecclesiastical expression suscipere de baptismo, lit. ‘lift out of baptism’.

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dómi ‘dom’

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dómr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): judgement; court; -dom, -ness (suffix)

notes

[3-4] hóf ór heiðnum dómi ‘lifted out of heathendom’: Konráð Gíslason (1892, 205) argues that this is a secondary meaning for the phrase, and the meaning here should be the original one, ‘(lift up an unbaptized infant and) hold it over the baptismal font’. Olsen (1954, 190) compares the ecclesiastical expression suscipere de baptismo, lit. ‘lift out of baptism’.

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hóf ‘lifted’

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hefja (verb): lift, start

notes

[3-4] hóf ór heiðnum dómi ‘lifted out of heathendom’: Konráð Gíslason (1892, 205) argues that this is a secondary meaning for the phrase, and the meaning here should be the original one, ‘(lift up an unbaptized infant and) hold it over the baptismal font’. Olsen (1954, 190) compares the ecclesiastical expression suscipere de baptismo, lit. ‘lift out of baptism’.

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ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

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nafn ‘the name’

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nafn (noun n.; °-s; *-): name

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gaf ‘gave’

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gefa (verb): give

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Tófu ‘Tófa’

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Tófa (noun f.): Tófa

notes

[4] Tófu ‘Tófa’: Olsen (1954, 193-5) argues that Óláfr named her after the sister of Sigvaldi jarl, patron of Sigvatr’s father (see Note to Lv 18/8).

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Helt ‘held’

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halda (verb): hold, keep

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und ‘under’

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3. und (prep.): under, underneath

[5] und: undir Flat(92vb), við 71ˣ

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vatr ‘the water’

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vatr (noun n.): [water, watery]

[5] vatr: so Flat(92vb), vatn DG8, 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ, váttr Flat(187ra), Tóm

notes

[5] vatr ‘the water’: This early variant form of vatn is also evidenced in some mss of ESk Sigdr I 4/8II: hvatr Jórðánar vatri (see Note ad loc.). Sigvatr uses vatn- (: vitni) in Lv 23/5. See Konráð Gíslason (1892, 205-8, 213).

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inn ‘The’

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2. inn (art.): the

kennings

Inn vitri, móðrakkr bróðir Haralds
‘The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr ’
   = Óláfr

The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr → Óláfr
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vitri ‘wise’

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vitr (adj.): wise

kennings

Inn vitri, móðrakkr bróðir Haralds
‘The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr ’
   = Óláfr

The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr → Óláfr
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varðk ‘I grew’

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1. verða (verb): become, be

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harða ‘exceedingly’

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harða (adv.): very

[6] harða: so Flat(187ra), Flat(92vb), Tóm, harðla DG8, 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ

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morni ‘morning’

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morn (noun f.): morning

notes

[7] morni ‘morning’: This dat. sg. form of morgunn/morginn is indicated by the skothending on barni; cf. Anon Pét 51/8VII morni : forna, and see LP: morgunn.

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mínu ‘my’

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minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my

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móð ‘mind’

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1. móðr (noun m.; °dat. -i/-): courage < móðrakkr (adj.)

kennings

Inn vitri, móðrakkr bróðir Haralds
‘The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr ’
   = Óláfr

The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr → Óláfr
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rakkr ‘bold’

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rakkr (adj.; °compar. -ari): bold < móðrakkr (adj.)

[8] ‑rakkr: ‘‑íackr’ Tóm

kennings

Inn vitri, móðrakkr bróðir Haralds
‘The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr ’
   = Óláfr

The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr → Óláfr
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Haralds ‘of Haraldr’

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Haraldr (noun m.): Haraldr

kennings

Inn vitri, móðrakkr bróðir Haralds
‘The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr ’
   = Óláfr

The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr → Óláfr

notes

[8] bróðir Haralds ‘brother of Haraldr [= Óláfr]’: Óláfr was the half-brother of Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson. But if, as Finnur Jónsson supposes (Skj), this lausavísa dates to the period 1020-7, Haraldr would have been a young boy at the time, and it seems unlikely that Óláfr should be praised as the brother of a child. Such a phrase would be more appropriate after Haraldr, aged fifteen, had fought by Óláfr’s side in the autumn of 1030 at the battle of Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad), where Óláfr died. Accordingly, Olsen (1954, 189-92; so earlier Konráð Gíslason 1892, 203) takes Dróttinn, hjalp þeim ‘Lord, help him’ (l. 1) to be a plea for the repose of Óláfr’s soul, and this would date the stanza between the autumn of 1030 and 3 August 1031, when Óláfr was declared a saint. (See Edwards 1982-3, 38-9 for petitions containing hjalp in skaldic and runic contexts.) This would put the composition of the stanza into the same period as that of Lv 18, to which Olsen sees it as a companion.

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bróðir ‘brother’

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bróðir (noun m.; °bróður/brǿðr/bróðurs, dat. bróður/brǿðr/breðr, acc. bróður/brǿðr; brǿðr/bróðr/breðr (brǿðrirnir Jvs291 75¹⁴), gen. brǿ---): brother

kennings

Inn vitri, móðrakkr bróðir Haralds
‘The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr ’
   = Óláfr

The wise, mind-bold brother of Haraldr → Óláfr

notes

[8] bróðir Haralds ‘brother of Haraldr [= Óláfr]’: Óláfr was the half-brother of Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson. But if, as Finnur Jónsson supposes (Skj), this lausavísa dates to the period 1020-7, Haraldr would have been a young boy at the time, and it seems unlikely that Óláfr should be praised as the brother of a child. Such a phrase would be more appropriate after Haraldr, aged fifteen, had fought by Óláfr’s side in the autumn of 1030 at the battle of Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad), where Óláfr died. Accordingly, Olsen (1954, 189-92; so earlier Konráð Gíslason 1892, 203) takes Dróttinn, hjalp þeim ‘Lord, help him’ (l. 1) to be a plea for the repose of Óláfr’s soul, and this would date the stanza between the autumn of 1030 and 3 August 1031, when Óláfr was declared a saint. (See Edwards 1982-3, 38-9 for petitions containing hjalp in skaldic and runic contexts.) This would put the composition of the stanza into the same period as that of Lv 18, to which Olsen sees it as a companion.

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Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

King Óláfr shows Sigvatr honour by standing godfather to his daughter; in Flat(187ra) it is added that the daughter’s name was Tófa. In 73aˣ it is said that both the king and queen stood godparents to the girl.

On the date and nature of the stanza, see Note to l. 8.

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