Sigv Lv 3^I

Ek tók lystr, né lastak
— leyfð íð es þat — síðan,
sóknar Njǫrðr, við sverði
— sás mínn vili — þínu.
Þollr, fekkt húskarl hollan
— hǫfum ráðit vel báðir —
látrs, en ek lánardróttin,
linns blóða, mér góðan.

Ek tók lystr við sverði þínu, {Njǫrðr sóknar}, né lastak síðan; sás vili mínn; þat es leyfð íð. {Þollr {látrs {blóða linns}}}, fekkt hollan húskarl, en ek mér góðan lánardróttin; hǫfum báðir ráðit vel.

I accepted, eager, your sword, {Njǫrðr <god> of combat} [WARRIOR], and I will not find fault with it afterwards; this is what I wish; it is a praiseworthy occupation. {Fir-tree {of the lair {of the serpent’s brother}}} [SERPENT > GOLD > MAN], you got a loyal retainer, and I [got] for myself a good liege lord; we have both decided well.

Mss: Holm2(11v), R686ˣ(22v), 972ˣ(77va), J1ˣ(154v), J2ˣ(132r), 325VI(9vb), 321ˣ(49), 73aˣ(32r), 78aˣ(29v), 68(10v), 61(83vb), Holm4(3va), 325V(14va), 325VII(4r), Bb(133va), Flat(83ra), Tóm(101r), 325XI 2 l(1r) (ÓH); Kˣ(247v-248r) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] lystr: ‘daystr’ Bb;    né lastak (‘ne ek lasta’): ‘ne e[…] asta’ 325VI, mǫrk lasta 78aˣ, ek lasta 61, en ek lasta Flat, til lasta Tóm    [2] leyfð: ‘[…]eyfð’ 325XI 2 l;    íð es (‘ið er’): ‘ydri er’ 972ˣ, iðn er J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 321ˣ, 68, Holm4, 325V, Bb, Flat, Tóm, iðu 73aˣ, í blank space er 78aˣ, iðn var 61, 325VII;    síðan: síð 78aˣ    [3] sóknar: ‘socuar’ 325XI 2 l;    Njǫrðr: norðr Bb;    við: var R686ˣ, ‘v[...]’ 325VI, með Tóm;    sverði: ‘[…]ði’ 325VI    [4] mínn: mín R686ˣ, 972ˣ, 61, 325V, Flat, Tóm;    þínu: þanninn 325XI 2 l    [5] fekkt (‘fek tv’): tóktu R686ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 78aˣ, tók en 321ˣ, gaztu Kˣ;    húskarl hollan: ‘h[…]’ 325VI, ‘huskarllann’ 325V, ‘huskarll […]ollan’ 325XI 2 l    [6] báðir: ‘baþr’ R686ˣ, ‘báðar’ Flat    [7] látrs: ‘Latturs’ 972ˣ, linns 61, ‘laírs’ 325XI 2 l;    ek: om. Tóm;    ‑dróttin: so J1ˣ, 325VI, 78aˣ, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, 325XI 2 l, ‑dróttinn Holm2, 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 61, Bb, Flat, Tóm, Kˣ, ‘drotin’ R686ˣ, ‑drótni 68    [8] linns: ‘Lins’ 972ˣ, lands 61, ‘linn(z)’(?) 325XI 2 l;    blóða: bróður J1ˣ, J2ˣ;    mér: mann 321ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 266, Skj BI, 246, Skald I, 127, NN §671, Fms 4, 90, Fms 12, 78, ÓH 1853, 36, 263, ÓH 1941, I, 82 (ch. 38), Flat 1860-8, II, 39; Hkr 1777-1826, II, 46 (ÓHHkr ch. 41), VI, 74, Hkr 1868, 248 (ÓHHkr ch. 41), Hkr 1893-1901, II, 63, IV, 118, ÍF 27, 55, Hkr 1991, I, 287 (ÓHHkr ch. 43); Konráð Gíslason 1892, 35, 171, Jón Skaptason 1983, 185, 313.

Context: After accepting reward for the previous stanza, Sigvatr becomes a member of the king’s retinue, and he delivers this.

Notes: [1, 3, 4] ek tók við sverði þínu ‘I accepted your sword’: In the ceremony of investiture as a retainer, the king would hold the haft of his sword over his right knee, and the aspiring retainer would grasp the haft with his right hand: see Hirðskrá chs 31, 43 (ed. Meissner 1938; Imsen 2000). — [2] íð ‘occupation’: The reading íðn/iðn in most mss is also possible, and more or less synonymous. — [2] þat ‘it’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B, following Konráð Gíslason 1892 and 1895-7, II, 236) regards this as the object of né lastak ‘I will not find fault with’ (l. 1), but Kock (NN §671) objects that the preceding parenthesis must not end with unstressed es ‘is’. — [4] mínn ‘I’: The older form of minn, with long vowel, is required by the aðalhending. Similar forms with shortening (Lv 6/2, 7/7, 13/8, 18/7) and without (Lv 8/6, 19/2) are required by the hendingar in Sigvatr’s lausavísur; see also ‘Normalisation resulting from linguistic changes’ in General Introduction for discussion of short and long variants. — [8] blóða linns ‘of the serpent’s brother [SERPENT]’: Blóða ‘brother’ adds nothing to the kenning, just as bróðir adds nothing to bróðir gera ‘brother of the wolf/wolves [WOLF]’ (Anon Krm 16/3^VIII in AM 6 folˣ), and brœðr adds nothing semantically to brœðr bergrisa ‘giant’s brothers [GIANTS]’ (Grott 9/7, NK 298). The use of ‘brother’ may serve to mark a change of number in some instances including the Grott example, and blóða here could be regarded as gen. pl. In support of that Meissner 239 has several examples of gen. pl. linna ‘of snakes’ as the determinant of gold-kennings, but on the other hand kennings of this type are at least partly motivated by legends of a lone dragon guarding treasure, notably Fáfnir. At all events, linns must not be thought to refer to an earthworm (as by Jón Skaptason 1983, 312-13); linnr alone may refer to a dragon: see LP: 1. linnr.

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. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
7. 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.
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. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
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. 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. Imsen, Steinar, ed. 2000. Hirdloven til Norges konge og hans håndgangne menn, etter AM 322 fol. Oslo: Riksarkivet.
17. Meissner, Rudolf, ed. 1938. Das norwegische Gefolschaftsrecht (Hirðskrá). Weimar: Böhlau.
18. Hkr 1777-1826 = Schöning, Gerhard et al., eds. 1777-1826. Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga-sögor. 6 vols. Copenhagen: Stein.
19. Hkr 1868 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1868. Heimskringla eller Norges kongesagaer af Snorre Sturlassøn. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger & Christie.
20. ÓH 1853 = Munch, P. A. and C. R. Unger, eds. 1853. Saga Olafs konungs ens helga. Christiania (Oslo): Det kongelige norske Fredriks Universitet.
21. Internal references
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. Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 16’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 749.
24. Not published: do not cite ()
25. Not published: do not cite ()