Sigv Lv 2^I

Hlýð mínum brag, meiðir
myrkblás, þvít kannk yrkja,
alltíginn — mátt eiga
eitt skald — drasils tjalda,
þótt ǫllungis allra,
allvaldr, lofun skalda
— þér fæk hróðrs at hvôru
hlít — annarra nítið.

Hlýð mínum brag, {alltíginn meiðir {myrkblás drasils tjalda}}, þvít kannk yrkja — mátt eiga eitt skald —, þótt nítið ǫllungis lofun allra annarra skalda, allvaldr; fæk þér at hvôru hlít hróðrs.

Listen to my poetry, {most high-born destroyer {of the dark black steed of awnings}} [SHIP > WARRIOR], because I know how to compose — you can have one skald —, although you refuse completely the praise of all other poets, mighty ruler; I shall deliver to you nonetheless a sufficiency of praise.

Mss: Holm2(11v), R686ˣ(22r), 972ˣ(77va), J1ˣ(154v), J2ˣ(132r), 325VI(9vb), 321ˣ(48-49), 73aˣ(32r), 78aˣ(29r), 68(10v), 61(83vb), Holm4(3rb), 325V(14va), 325VII(4r), Bb(133va), Flat(83ra), Tóm(101r), 325XI 2 l(1r) (ÓH); Kˣ(247v) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] Hlýð: ‘Hlyð’ or ‘Hyð’ 325VI, ‘Lyð’ 78aˣ;    brag: borg R686ˣ, barg Bb;    meiðir: meiðr R686ˣ, Bb, beiðir 68    [2] myrk‑: mýr‑ 68;    ‑blás: ‑blakks 325VI, 73aˣ, 78aˣ, 68, 61, ‑blakk es 321ˣ, ‘‑bals’ 325V, ‑hjarls 325VII, halls Flat, ‑hals Tóm, ‘‑blat’ 325XI 2 l;    þvít (‘þvi at’): því 325VI, 78aˣ, 61, Flat;    kannk (‘kanc’): kann 73aˣ, Holm4, Bb, 325XI 2 l    [3] ‑tíginn: ‘‑tigginn’ R686ˣ, ‘‑teigin’ 972ˣ, ‘[…]g[…]’ 325XI 2 l;    mátt: ‘[…]’ 325XI 2 l    [4] skald: spjald 68;    drasils: ‘drausels’ R686ˣ, ‘brasils’ 68    [5] þótt: því at Holm4, 325VII, Tóm, því Flat    [6] lofun: so 73aˣ, 68, 61, Holm4, Flat, Tóm, lofan Holm2, 972ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 321ˣ, 78aˣ, 325V, 325VII, 325XI 2 l, lofn R686ˣ, lofum Bb, lofi Kˣ;    skalda: skjalda 325V    [7] þér: þann 321ˣ, því Tóm, ‘[…]’ 325XI 2 l;    fæk (‘fę ec’): ber ek J1ˣ, J2ˣ, færik 325VI, 321ˣ, 78aˣ, ‘[…] ek’ 325XI 2 l;    hróðrs: hróðr R686ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 78aˣ, 61, ‘hrodes’ 972ˣ, ‘hrodir’ J1ˣ, ‘hrovr’ Bb    [8] hlít: ‘Hlitit’ 972ˣ, hvárt 78aˣ;    nítið: ‘litit nítit’ Bb, vítit Tóm

Editions: Skj AI, 265, Skj BI, 246, Skald I, 127, NN §1872; Fms 4, 90, Fms 12, 77-8, ÓH 1853, 35, 263, ÓH 1941, I, 82 (ch. 38), Flat 1860-8, II, 39; Hkr 1777-1826, II, 45-6, VI, 74, Hkr 1868, 248 (ÓHHkr ch. 41), Hkr 1893-1901, II, 62, IV, 118, ÍF 27, 54-5, Hkr 1991, I, 287 (ÓHHkr ch. 43); Konráð Gíslason 1892, 35, 169-71, Jón Skaptason 1983, 184, 313.

Context: When he is almost fully grown, Sigvatr comes to Norway, where he meets King Óláfr Haraldsson. He has composed a poem about the king, and he asks him to listen to it. The king says he does not like having poetry composed about him, and he does not understand it (Hkr version; ÓH similar). Sigvatr delivers this stanza nonetheless, and the king rewards him.

Notes: [1-2]: The lines are echoed in Ótt Hfl 1/1-2 (see Note).  — [2] myrkblás ‘dark black’: The allusion may be to tarring of the ship’s joints (so ÍF 27, 55 n.), or else to the dark blue colour of sails (Jesch 2001a, 165). — [3] alltíginn ‘most high-born’: Etymologically, the vowel of the second syllable should be short, though in ModIcel. -tiginn and -tíginn are indistinguishable (both with tense, long vowels). But despite the arguments of Konráð Gíslason (1892, 170-1), the metre demands a long vowel here (see Sievers 1893, §61.4). — [5] þótt ‘although’: The arrangement here agrees with that of Kock (NN §1872), in which the concessive clause introduced by þótt depends on the main clause of the first helmingr. This produces the sense ‘Listen to my praise, even though you refuse the praise of others’. It is preferred because it avoids placing a concessive clause ahead of a main clause within the helmingr (cf. Kuhn 1983, 190). That is the effect of the arrangement in Skj B, which produces the overall sense ‘I shall praise you even though you refuse the praise of others’.

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. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
7. Sievers, Eduard. 1893. Altgermanische Metrik. Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte. Ergänzungsreihe 2, ed. Wilhelm Braune. Halle: Niemeyer.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1983. Das Dróttkvætt. Heidelberg: Winter.
11. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
12. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
13. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
14. 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.
15. Konráð Gíslason, ed. 1892a. Udvalg af oldnordiske skjaldekvad, med anmærkninger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
16. Hkr 1777-1826 = Schöning, Gerhard et al., eds. 1777-1826. Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga-sögor. 6 vols. Copenhagen: Stein.
17. Hkr 1868 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1868. Heimskringla eller Norges kongesagaer af Snorre Sturlassøn. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger & Christie.
18. ÓH 1853 = Munch, P. A. and C. R. Unger, eds. 1853. Saga Olafs konungs ens helga. Christiania (Oslo): Det kongelige norske Fredriks Universitet.
19. Internal references
20. (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 20 April 2024)
21. (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 20 April 2024)
22. (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 20 April 2024)
23. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Hǫfuðlausn 1’ 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. 741.