Sigv Lv 29^I

Minn hug segik mǫnnum,
Magnús, at ek fagna
— goðs lán es þat — þínu
þingdrífu vel lífi.
Ætti drengja dróttinn
dýrðarson, ef yrði
(þjóð mætti fô fœðask)
feðr glíkr (konung slíkan).

Segik hug minn mǫnnum, Magnús, at ek fagna vel þingdrífu lífi þínu; þat es lán goðs. {Dróttinn drengja} ætti dýrðarson, ef yrði glíkr feðr; fô þjóð mætti fœðask slíkan konung.

I tell my thought to people, Magnús, that I am well pleased with your assembly-attending life; it is God’s gift. {The lord of men} [RULER = Óláfr] would have a glorious son, if he became like his father; few nations could produce such a king.

Mss: Kˣ(500v), 39(13va), F(38rb), J2ˣ(242v-243r), E(4v) (Hkr); 761bˣ(311v)

Readings: [3] lán: so all others, ‘sán’ Kˣ    [5] Ætti: so all others, átti Kˣ    [6] dýrðar‑: ‘dyrðan’ E;    ef: er E    [7] mætti: má til J2ˣ, E, 761bˣ;    fœðask: fœða F    [8] feðr: so all others, ferð Kˣ;    konung: konungr J2ˣ, E

Editions: Skj AI, 274, Skj BI, 254, Skald I, 131, NN §682, 1121, 1853A, 1879; Hkr 1777-1826, III, 13-14, VI, 126-7, Hkr 1868, 522 (MGóð ch. 10), Hkr 1893-1901, III, 21, IV, 185-6, ÍF 28, 19-20, Hkr 1991, 568 (MGóð ch. 9), F 1871, 174, E 1916, 13; Jón Skaptason 1983, 213, 329.

Context: As for Lv 28. Sigvatr joins Ástríðr in accompanying Magnús to Norway, and the poet speaks this stanza.

Notes: [4] þingdrífu ‘assembly-attending’: Though unparalleled, the adj. is plainly a derivative of drífa ‘move, drive’. Kock (NN §1121) would emend to þingdrífum in order to have the word modify mǫnnum ‘people’ in l. 1, on the basis of perceived OE parallels. But the epithet more meaningfully describes Magnús, characterizing the boy as kingly. — [5] dróttinn drengja ‘the lord of men [RULER = Óláfr]’: Magnús’s father, King Óláfr inn helgi Haraldsson (S. Óláfr). — [6] dýrðarson ‘a glorious son’: (a) Literally, dýrðar means ‘of glory’, hence ‘glorious’, and dýrðarson is here taken as a cpd by analogy with numerous later compounds (see LP: dýrð, dýrðar-). (b) In Skj B, as in some earlier analyses, dýrðar is thought to modify feðr ‘father’, though the word order derived from this arrangement is strained. (c) Kock (NN §682) would emend to dýrðir ‘glories’, and, reading nom. sonr for acc. son, advocates the meaning ‘the lord of men would have glories, if the son became like the father’.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
9. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
10. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
11. 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.
12. Hkr 1777-1826 = Schöning, Gerhard et al., eds. 1777-1826. Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga-sögor. 6 vols. Copenhagen: Stein.
13. Hkr 1868 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1868. Heimskringla eller Norges kongesagaer af Snorre Sturlassøn. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger & Christie.
14. Internal references
15. (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 19 April 2024)
16. Russell Poole 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr inn helgi Haraldsson’ 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. 515.