Sigv Lv 18^I

Stóðk á Mont, ok minntumk,
mǫrg hvar sundr fló targa
breið ok brynjur síðar
borgum nær, of morgin.
Munða ek, þanns unnði
(ǫndverðan brum) lǫndum,
(faðir minn vas þar þenna
Þórrøðr) konung, forðum.

Stóðk of morgin á Mont, ok minntumk, hvar mǫrg breið targa ok síðar brynjur fló sundr nær borgum. Munða ek konung, þanns forðum unnði lǫndum; Þórrøðr faðir minn vas þar þenna ǫndverðan brum.

I stood one morning in the Alps, and I remembered where many a broad shield, and long mail-shirts, flew asunder near towns. I recalled the king who once enjoyed his lands; Þórðr my father was there early in that period.

Mss: Holm2(73v), 972ˣ(580va), 325VI(41rb), 321ˣ(278), 73aˣ(214r), Holm4(68vb), 61(129vb), 325V(88rb), 325VII(41r), Bb(205rb), Flat(126vb), Tóm(160v) (ÓH); Kˣ(498v), 39(13rb), F(37vb-38ra), J2ˣ(241v), E(4r) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] Stóðk (‘Stod ec’): stóð 325VI, 321ˣ, 325V;    á Mont: ‘ꜳ mænt’ 73aˣ, á mót 61, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, á munt Kˣ;    ok: þá er 325VI, 321ˣ, er 61, 325V, 325VII, en Flat, Tóm;    minntumk: minntisk 325VI, 321ˣ    [2] mǫrg: ‘maugr’ 325V;    hvar: brast 61, Flat, brast í Tóm;    sundr: suðr 325V;    fló (‘flꜹg’): om. 61, Flat, Tóm, var 325VII, flǫg E;    targa: tjarga 972ˣ, 61    [3] brynjur: brynjar 972ˣ, ‘bryni[…]’ 325VI, ‘brynur’ 325V;    síðar: síðan 73aˣ    [4] borgum: ‘b[…]’ 325VI;    nær: mær 321ˣ, nærr 73aˣ, Flat;    of: af 321ˣ    [5] þanns (‘þann er’): so 73aˣ, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Kˣ, 39, F, J2ˣ, E, þar er Holm2, 972ˣ, er 325VI, 321ˣ, hann er 61, om. Tóm;    unnði: hendi 61, yndi 325V, endi Flat, ‘hemðe’ Tóm, varði 39, F    [6] ǫnd‑: ‘on‑’ Bb;    ‑verðan (‘‑urþan’): ‘‑urðum’ 972ˣ, ‑verðum Holm4, ‑varðar 325VII, ‘‑urnum’ J2ˣ, E;    brum: bryn 61, 325VII;    lǫndum: landa 325VI, 321ˣ, J2ˣ, E, sundum 325V    [7] faðir: ferð 61, Flat, Tóm;    minn: mín 61, 325V, Tóm;    þar: so Kˣ, 39, F, þá Holm2, 972ˣ, 325VI, 321ˣ, Holm4, 61, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm, J2ˣ, E, þó 73aˣ;    þenna: þessa 325V    [8] Þórrøðr: ‘þororþr’ 972ˣ, ‘þorðre᷎ðr’ Holm4, ‘þordendr’ 61, Flat, ‘þoroðr’ 325V, J2ˣ, ‘þorręnðr’ 325VII, ‘þoradr’ Bb, ‘þorendr’ Tóm, ‘þororðr’ Kˣ, ‘þorðr’ 39;    konung: kóngr 972ˣ, om. Holm4, konungr 325V, Bb, Flat, 39, F, E, konungi Tóm;    forðum: vǫrðum 61

Editions: Skj AI, 271-2, Skj BI, 251, Skald I, 129-30, NN §§1875, 2313, 2480G; Fms 5, 122, Fms 12, 106, ÓH 1853, 236, 300, ÓH 1941, I, 617-18 (ch. 253), Flat 1860-8, II, 371; Hkr 1777-1826, III, 10, VI, 124, Hkr 1868, 520 (MGóð ch. 9), Hkr 1893-1901, III, 16, IV, 182, ÍF 28, 14-15, Hkr 1991, II, 564 (MGóð ch. 7), F 1871, 172, E 1916, 12; Konráð Gíslason 1892, 41, 187, 232, Jón Skaptason 1983, 203, 324-5.

Context: On his way home from a pilgrimage to Rome, Sigvatr learns of the death of King Óláfr in the battle of Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad), and it affects him greatly. He speaks this stanza.

Notes: [1] Mont ‘the Alps’: Like OE Muntgeōf, the word may derive from Lat. Mon(te)s Jovis and refer to the Alps, though this is not certain. The context that Snorri provides probably implies that he understood the word this way. The eds of ÍF 28 and Hkr 1991 take ‘mont’ to be a common noun, perhaps meaning ‘mountain’, possibly in the Apennines (ÍF 28). — [2] fló ‘flew’: A sg. verb with coordinate subject (here mǫrg breið targa ok síðar brynjur ‘many a broad shield, and long mail-shirts’) is common in poetry (NS §70). — [4] of morgin; nær borgum ‘one morning; near towns’: Of morgin ‘one morning’ is construed in the present edn with stóðk ‘I stood’ (l. 1), and nær borgum ‘near towns’ with fló ‘(arrows) flew’ (l. 2). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B, followed by ÍF 28; Hkr 1991), interpreting borgum as ‘castles’, construes both phrases with stóðk, while Kock (NN §1875, followed by Olsen 1954, 192) construes them with fló ‘flew’. If the fighting described took place in the west (see Note to ll. 6, 7), nær borgum would help to make that clearer if construed with fló. — [6, 7] þenna ǫndverðan brum ‘in that early period’: An adverbial acc. sg.; brum ‘bud, point of time’ is usually n., but a m. equivalent has been assumed (e.g. LP: brumr; ÍF 28). The phrase is taken here, as in Skj B, to qualify the vas-clause referring to Sigvatr’s father Þórðr. ÍF 28 and Hkr 1991 on the other hand take ǫndverðan brum with the un(n)ði-clause about Óláfr’s lordship (also qualified by forðum ‘formerly’), and they take þenna with the clause about Þórðr, where it stands for þenna brum ‘during that period’ or þenna dag ‘that day’. The exact reference of ǫndverðan brum is difficult to determine, but ‘early in Óláfr’s career’ fits the presumed facts, since Snorri tells us (ÓH 1941, I, 81, ÍF 27, 54) that Þórðr met and became the retainer of Óláfr while the young king was on his viking expedition in the west. For this reason, Olsen (1954, 192-3) takes the description of a battle in the first helmingr to be a report of what Sigvatr had heard from his father about this expedition. — [7] vas ‘was’: Kock (NN §2313) finds this too weak a word for the metrical position, and he proposes emending to vann ‘got’, but this is unnecessary, since the word is unstressed. — [8] Þórrøðr ‘Þórðr’: Þórðr Sigvaldaskáld ‘Poet of Sigvaldi’, who served Sigvaldi jarl Strút-Haraldsson of Jómsborg, and then his brother Þorkell inn hávi ‘the Tall’, before meeting Óláfr Haraldsson (ÍF 27, 54). Although the metre demands the older, disyllabic form Þórrøðr, the aðalhending, while adequate, would be improved by the assumption of the later, monosyllabic Þórðr (CVC: Þórr B).

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. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
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. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
10. 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.
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. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
15. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
16. 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.
17. Konráð Gíslason, ed. 1892a. Udvalg af oldnordiske skjaldekvad, med anmærkninger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
18. Olsen, Magnus. 1954. ‘Tova Sigvatsdatter’. MM, 189-96.
19. Hkr 1777-1826 = Schöning, Gerhard et al., eds. 1777-1826. Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga-sögor. 6 vols. Copenhagen: Stein.
20. Hkr 1868 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1868. Heimskringla eller Norges kongesagaer af Snorre Sturlassøn. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger & Christie.
21. ÓH 1853 = Munch, P. A. and C. R. Unger, eds. 1853. Saga Olafs konungs ens helga. Christiania (Oslo): Det kongelige norske Fredriks Universitet.
22. Internal references
23. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga ins góða’ 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=116> (accessed 16 April 2024)