Sigv Lv 13^I

Fjandr ganga þar þengils
(þjóð býðr opt) með sjóða
(hǫfgan malm fyr hilmis
haus ófalan) lausa.
Sitt veit hverr, ef harra
hollan selr við golli,
— vert es slíks — í svǫrtu,
sinn, helvíti innan.

Fjandr þengils ganga þar með lausa sjóða; þjóð býðr opt hǫfgan malm fyr ófalan haus hilmis. Hverr veit sitt innan í svǫrtu helvíti, ef selr hollan harra sinn við golli; vert es slíks.

Enemies of the prince go there with open purses; people are repeatedly offering solid metal for the not-for-sale skull of the ruler [Óláfr]. Everyone knows his lot will be within black Hell if he sells his gracious lord for gold; that is deserving of such.

Mss: Holm2(54v), 972ˣ(401va), 321ˣ(193), 73aˣ(166r), 68(52r), Holm4(49ra), 61(114ra), 75c(35r-v), 325V(62ra), Bb(184ra), Flat(116va), Tóm(142r) (ÓH); Kˣ(419v), J2ˣ(202r) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] þar: þann 321ˣ    [2] býðr: ferr 321ˣ, ‘frir’ 73aˣ, ‘byndr’ Tóm;    sjóða: ‘sioð(a)’(?) Bb    [3] fyr: við 68, Tóm;    hilmis: hilmi 68    [4] ófalan: of aldinn 61, of allan 75c, Bb, ófallan 325V, ófallinn Flat;    lausa: lausan Bb, Flat    [5] Sitt: sik 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 325V, Flat;    veit: veitt Bb, Tóm;    ef: er 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Tóm, of 61, Bb, Flat;    harra: hara 972ˣ, Tóm, herra 68    [7] vert: verk 68, 325V, ‘verz’ Bb;    es (‘er’): eru 68, om. Tóm;    slíks í: slíkt í 972ˣ, Kˣ, slík í 325V    [8] sinn: sín 75c, Tóm;    ‑víti: ‑vítis Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 270, Skj BI, 250, Skald I, 129, NN §1119; Fms 4, 376-7, Fms 12, 91, ÓH 1853, 172, ÓH 1853, 172, ÓH 1941, I, 457 (ch. 153), Flat 1860-8, II, 291; Hkr 1777-1826, II, 285, VI, 97-8, Hkr 1868, 431 (ÓHHkr ch. 171), Hkr 1893-1901, II, 382, IV, 148-9, ÍF 27, 294-5, Hkr 1991, II, 467 (ÓHHkr ch. 161); Konráð Gíslason 1892, 38, 180, Jón Skaptason 1983, 198, 322.

Context: King Knútr sends his emissaries throughout Norway to distribute money to those who will support him and resist King Óláfr. Some who accept the money do so openly, but most keep it a secret. King Óláfr hears all about this, and Sigvatr composes this stanza and the next.

Notes: [All]: For Lv 13-15, the text in J2ˣ belongs to the Hkr redaction; see Introduction. — [5-8]: (a) The overall analysis of clauses shown above is also that of most previous eds, including Skj B. However, it assumes a convoluted word order, and there is disagreement as to the status of sitt in l. 5 and sinn in l. 8. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 27; so also Hkr 1991) takes sinn to be a n. noun meaning ‘company, fellowship’, a usage that is unattested but supported by the sense of the closely related sinni. He would have this qualified by sitt, enabling him to interpret the first clause to mean ‘Everyone knows his company to be (i.e. has an assigned place) in Hell’. Jón Skaptason (1983, 198) approves this interpretation, but he suggests the meaning ‘lot’ for sitt, taking sinn with harra, as also in the present edn. Kock (NN §1119) earlier gave a similar interpretation, but he took sinn to mean ‘journey’ (with the same etymological problem), rendering the sense ‘Everyone knows that his wandering will be in (i.e. that he will go to) Hell’. (b) A further possibility is to read Hverr innan í svǫrtu helvíti veit sitt, ef selr hollan harra sinn við golli; vert es slíks ‘Everyone within black Hell understands his own circumstances, if he sells his gracious lord for gold; that is deserving of such’. The general sense is then ‘Everyone in Hell knows why he is there, i.e. what his sins have been’. Then vert in l. 7 agrees with sitt, giving the intercalary clause the sense ‘His circumstances/sins are worthy of such punishment’. — [8] helvíti ‘Hell’: The word, lit. ‘punishment in Hell’, appears in clearly Christian contexts (including Hfr Lv 28/8^V), whereas hel can also denote the pre-Christian abode of the dead and the goddess who presides over it (see LP: 1. hel, Hel and SnE 2005, 9, 27). The theme of the punishment of treachery continues in Lv 14.

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. 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.
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. 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.
13. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
14. Konráð Gíslason, ed. 1892a. Udvalg af oldnordiske skjaldekvad, med anmærkninger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
15. Hkr 1777-1826 = Schöning, Gerhard et al., eds. 1777-1826. Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga-sögor. 6 vols. Copenhagen: Stein.
16. Hkr 1868 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1868. Heimskringla eller Norges kongesagaer af Snorre Sturlassøn. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger & Christie.
17. ÓH 1853 = Munch, P. A. and C. R. Unger, eds. 1853. Saga Olafs konungs ens helga. Christiania (Oslo): Det kongelige norske Fredriks Universitet.
18. Internal references
19. (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 24 April 2024)
20. (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 24 April 2024)
21. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2022, ‘Hallfreðar saga 34 (Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Lausavísur 28)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 914.