Þorm Lv 11^I

Flestr of sér, hvé fasta
fagrbúnar hefk túna
báðar hendr ór breiðum
barðs þjóðkonungs garði.
Eld ák jǫfri gjalda
ungr þeim, es bregðr hungri,
djúps, (berk goll á greipum)
grôðugs ara (bôðum).

Flestr of sér, hvé hefk báðar hendr fagrbúnar {fasta {túna barðs}} ór breiðum garði þjóðkonungs. Ungr ák gjalda þeim jǫfri {eld djúps}, es bregðr hungri grôðugs ara; berk goll á bôðum greipum.

Most people see how I have both arms finely equipped {with the fire {of the homesteads of the prow}} [SEA > GOLD] from the spacious court of the mighty king. [While] young, I have to pay the prince {for the flame of the deep} [GOLD], who terminates the hunger of the greedy eagle; I bear gold on both hands.

Mss: NRA52(2r) (ÓHÆ); DG8(90r) (ÓHLeg); Flat(105ra) (Flat); Tóm(141r) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] Flestr: flest Flat, flestir Tóm;    of sér hvé fasta: sjá hvat festa Tóm    [2] ‑búnar: ‑búna DG8;    hefk (‘hef ec’): á ek Tóm    [3] breiðum: brendum DG8    [4] barðs: bars Tóm    [5] jǫfri: ‘jofari’ Tóm;    gjalda: at gjalda DG8    [6] bregðr: bregð DG8, bar Tóm    [8] ara: ‘ar’ DG8

Editions: Skj AI, 284, Skj BI, 262-3, Skald I, 135; ÓHÆ 1893, 5; ÓHLeg 1849, 44, 109, ÓHLeg 1922, 54, ÓHLeg 1982, 126-9; Flat 1860-8, II, 201, Fbr 1925-7, 225, ÓH 1941, II, 801, 804, ÍF 6, 283-4 (ch. 2), ÍS III, 2277-8 (Þorm); Gaertner 1907, 310, 329-30, Finnur Jónsson 1932-3, 64.

Context:

See Context to Lv 10. In all texts but Tóm, King Knútr gives Þormóðr a gold arm-ring in response to the previous stanza, then another as a result of the poet’s further prompting. Then Þormóðr delivers this stanza. In Tóm, Þormóðr recites it after being given a ring. There is no mention of a further gift from the king.

Notes: [4] þjóðkonungs ‘of the mighty king’: On possible Anglo-Saxon influence on the skalds’ use of this word, see Note to Sigv Nesv 6/4.  — [6] ungr ‘[while] young’: Remarks on youthfulness are common, even conventional, in skaldic poetry. Þormóðr may in fact have been in his early thirties at this point in his life (cf. Lv 16/5, 7, 8). Emendation to dat. ungum was proposed by Valdimar Ásmundarson (Fbr 1899, 161). This would qualify jǫfri ‘prince’, in reference to Knútr, who was probably younger, as well as providing an extra syllable and allowing þeim es to contract to þeims, as is more usual. However, ungum would be unmetrical. — [7, 8] berk goll á bôðum greipum ‘I bear gold on both hands’: Bera goll ‘to bear gold’ also occurs, in a very similar context, in Sigv Berv 16/5^II. 

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. ÓHLeg 1982 = Heinrichs, Anne et al., eds and trans. 1982. Olafs saga hins helga: Die ‘Legendarische Saga’ über Olaf den Heiligen (Hs. Delagard. saml. nr. 8^II). Heidelberg: Winter.
6. ÍF 6 = Vestfirðinga sǫgur. Ed. Björn K. Þórólfsson and Guðni Jónsson. 1943.
7. ÓHLeg 1922 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert, ed. 1922. Olafs saga hins helga efter pergamenthåndskrift i Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek, Delagardieske samling nr. 8^II. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 47. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
8. Gaertner, K. H. 1907. ‘Zur Fóstbrœðra saga. I. Teil: Die vísur’. BGDSL 32, 299-446.
9. Fbr 1925-7 = Björn K. Þórólfsson, ed. 1925-7. Fóstbrœðra saga. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
10. Finnur Jónsson. 1932-3. ‘Þórmóðr Kolbrúnarskald’. APS 7, 31-82.
11. ÓHÆ 1893 = Storm, Gustav, ed. 1893. Otte brudstykker af den ældste saga om Olav den Hellige. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfonds skrifter 25. Christiana (Oslo): Grøndahl.
12. ÓHLeg 1849 = Keyser, R. and C. R. Unger. eds. 1849. Olafs saga hins helga: En kort saga om kong Olaf den Hellige fra anden halvdeel af det tolfte aarhundrede. Efter et gammelt pergaments-haandskrift i Universitets-bibliotheket i Upsala. Christiania (Oslo): Feilberg & Landmark.
13. ÍS = Bragi Halldórsson et al., eds. 1987. Íslendinga sögur og þættir. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Svart á hvítu.
14. Fbr 1899 = Valdimar Ásmundarson, ed. 1899a. Fóstbrœðra saga. Reykjavík: Sigurður Kristjánsson.
15. Internal references
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Þormóðar þáttr Kolbrúnarskálds’ 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=160> (accessed 19 April 2024)
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Bersǫglisvísur 16’ 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, pp. 28-9.
18. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Nesjavísur 6’ 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. 565.