Sigv Lv 28I
Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 28’ 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. 734.
Heim ‘home’
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heim (adv.): home, back
notes
[1, 2] sóttir þú heim hǫnd ‘you came back home’: The hand (hǫnd) referred to in the idiom was originally a literal one, as when the same expression is used to describe the way that the hammer Mjǫllnir, when cast, returns to the hand of Þórr (SnE 1998, I, 42). The kernel of the expression is thus sóttir . . . hǫnd ‘sought the hand’, heim functioning as the equivalent of ‘again’. On the basis of comparison to heim nam hon Helga | hǫnd at sœkia ‘she took Helgi’s hand’ (HHund II 14/3-4, NK 153), Kock (NN §1878) suggests the sense ‘you decisively grasped the hand outstretched to you from Norway’.
sóttir ‘came’
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sœkja (verb): seek, attack
notes
[1, 2] sóttir þú heim hǫnd ‘you came back home’: The hand (hǫnd) referred to in the idiom was originally a literal one, as when the same expression is used to describe the way that the hammer Mjǫllnir, when cast, returns to the hand of Þórr (SnE 1998, I, 42). The kernel of the expression is thus sóttir . . . hǫnd ‘sought the hand’, heim functioning as the equivalent of ‘again’. On the basis of comparison to heim nam hon Helga | hǫnd at sœkia ‘she took Helgi’s hand’ (HHund II 14/3-4, NK 153), Kock (NN §1878) suggests the sense ‘you decisively grasped the hand outstretched to you from Norway’.
þú ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
notes
[1, 2] sóttir þú heim hǫnd ‘you came back home’: The hand (hǫnd) referred to in the idiom was originally a literal one, as when the same expression is used to describe the way that the hammer Mjǫllnir, when cast, returns to the hand of Þórr (SnE 1998, I, 42). The kernel of the expression is thus sóttir . . . hǫnd ‘sought the hand’, heim functioning as the equivalent of ‘again’. On the basis of comparison to heim nam hon Helga | hǫnd at sœkia ‘she took Helgi’s hand’ (HHund II 14/3-4, NK 153), Kock (NN §1878) suggests the sense ‘you decisively grasped the hand outstretched to you from Norway’.
hættinn ‘Bold’
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1. hættinn (adj.): virtuous
hǫnd ‘back’
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hǫnd (noun f.; °handar, dat. hendi; hendr (hendir StatPáll³ 752¹²)): hand
notes
[1, 2] sóttir þú heim hǫnd ‘you came back home’: The hand (hǫnd) referred to in the idiom was originally a literal one, as when the same expression is used to describe the way that the hammer Mjǫllnir, when cast, returns to the hand of Þórr (SnE 1998, I, 42). The kernel of the expression is thus sóttir . . . hǫnd ‘sought the hand’, heim functioning as the equivalent of ‘again’. On the basis of comparison to heim nam hon Helga | hǫnd at sœkia ‘she took Helgi’s hand’ (HHund II 14/3-4, NK 153), Kock (NN §1878) suggests the sense ‘you decisively grasped the hand outstretched to you from Norway’.
en ‘and’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
notes
[2] en ‘and’: If the sense of the word is adversative (as it often is), the implied opposition is that even though it was bold of Magnús to return, he need have no fear.
vel ‘most’
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vel (adv.): well, very
mátt ‘you can be’
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mega (verb): may, might
lǫndum ‘of [your] lands’
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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
þinn ‘your’
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þinn (pron.; °f. þín, n. þitt): your
stoðak ‘I support’
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2. styðja (verb): protect, support
môtt ‘power’
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máttr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. mǽtti/mátt; mǽttir, dat. -um): power
mǫnnum ‘[your] people’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
Magnús ‘Magnús’
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2. Magnús (noun m.): Magnús
konungr ‘King’
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king
fagna ‘glad’
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fagna (verb; °-að-): welcome, rejoice
Fœrak ‘I would have travelled’
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2. fœra (verb): bring
víst ‘Certainly’
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1. víss (adj.): wise, certain(ly)
þvít ‘since’
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þvít (conj.): because, since
vôrum ‘we were [I was]’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
varðr ‘closely connected’
[6] varðr at: so 39, F, varðat Kˣ, vǫrðr at J2ˣ, E, 761bˣ
notes
[6] varðr at ‘closely connected to’: The meaning ‘concerned about’ is proposed by Björn Magnússon Ólsen (1913, 58-9), on the assumption that poetic vǫrð ‘woman’ originally meant ‘mindful, assiduous’ (about one’s husband and house). Kock (NN §152) takes the sense to be that Sigvatr was on his way to Magnús in Russia, on the basis of perceived parallels in ME and MLG (and cf. ModEngl. toward).
at ‘to’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
[6] varðr at: so 39, F, varðat Kˣ, vǫrðr at J2ˣ, E, 761bˣ
notes
[6] varðr at ‘closely connected to’: The meaning ‘concerned about’ is proposed by Björn Magnússon Ólsen (1913, 58-9), on the assumption that poetic vǫrð ‘woman’ originally meant ‘mindful, assiduous’ (about one’s husband and house). Kock (NN §152) takes the sense to be that Sigvatr was on his way to Magnús in Russia, on the basis of perceived parallels in ME and MLG (and cf. ModEngl. toward).
þér ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
í ‘to’
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í (prep.): in, into
Garða ‘Russia’
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Garðar (noun m.): Russia
skrifnask ‘is written to’
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skrifna (verb): [is written to]
[7] skrifnask: ‘scrifnaþz’ 39, ‘skipnask’ J2ˣ, E, 761bˣ
notes
[7] skrifnask ‘is written’: The unexampled verb is assumed to have been formed by analogy to the derivation of, e.g., hlotnask ‘to fall to one’s lot’ from hlotinn ‘allotted’, with a similar semantic relation (ÍF 28).
skírinafna ‘godson’
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skírinafni (noun m.): [godson]
skript ‘a document’
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1. skrift (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): image
notes
[8] skript ‘a document’: It is unknown what document is referred to here. It is usually assumed (e.g. in ÍF 28) to be a letter from Ástríðr to Magnús in Russia, resulting in his return to Sweden. In Hkr 1991 it is tentatively suggested that the document is Ástríðr’s written affirmation of Magnús’s right to the throne. Björn Magnússon Ólsen (1913, 57-8) would make skript the direct object of fœrðak ‘I brought’ in l. 4, emended from fœrak. Kock (NN §§681, 1879) discerns instead a reference to Sigvatr’s penitential pilgrimage to Rome (cf. Lv 23), on the basis of perceived parallels in early English. Finnur Jónsson makes no attempt to translate ll. 7-8 in Skj B, though he had made tentative suggestions in Hkr 1893-1901, IV.
þjóð ‘great’
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þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people < þjóðkonungr (noun m.): mighty king
konungr ‘king’
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king < þjóðkonungr (noun m.): mighty king
niptar ‘of [your] kinswoman’
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nift (noun f.): kinswoman
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Magnús Óláfsson comes to Sweden from Russia, to much rejoicing. Sigvatr is there with Magnús’s stepmother the queen, Ástríðr Óláfsdóttir, and speaks this stanza.
Jesch (1994a) adduces parallels between Lv 28-30 and Sigv Ást, arguing that whereas the two sets of vísur are separate compositions, they were composed on the same occasion, to welcome Magnús to Norway and celebrate his enthronement. — [4] Magnús konungr ‘King Magnús’: Son of Óláfr Haraldsson and Álfhildr (on whom, see Note to Lv 30/2), a young boy at the time of his return from exile in Russia.
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