Anon Sveinfl 1^I

Vasa sunnudag, svanni,
— seggr hné margr und eggjar —
morgin þann, sem manni
mær lauk eða ǫl bæri,
þás Sveinn konungr sína
saman tengja bað drengi
— hrátt gafsk hold at slíta
hrafni — skeiðar stafna.

Svanni, vasa þann morgin, sunnudag, sem mær bæri manni lauk eða ǫl — margr seggr hné und eggjar —, þás Sveinn konungr bað drengi sína tengja saman stafna skeiðar; hrátt hold gafsk hrafni at slíta.

Lady, on that morning, a Sunday, it was not as if a maiden was bringing a man leek or ale — many a man sank down beneath blades — when King Sveinn ordered his warriors to join together the stems of the longship; raw flesh was given to the raven to tear.

Mss: Kˣ(491r-v), 39(11vb), E(2v) (Hkr); 61(74rb), 53(72ra), Bb(110ra) (ÓT); Holm2(72v), 972ˣ(575va-576va), J2ˣ(238r), 325VI(40va), 73aˣ(211v), Holm4(68ra), 61(129rb), 325V(87va), 325VII(40v), Bb(204va), Tóm(160r) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] Vasa (‘Vara’): ‘Varar’ E, ‘Varr a’ 53, var á Bb(110ra), 61(129rb), Tóm, ‘Va’ Bb(110ra), var at 73aˣ    [2] hné: fell 73aˣ    [3] manni: mǫnnum 53, 325VII    [4] mær: ‘mor’ 61(129rb);    lauk: lausn J2ˣ, ‘lęk’ 61(129rb);    bæri: ‘bęki’ 61(129rb)    [5] þás (‘þá er’): er 61(74rb), 53, Bb(110ra), Holm2, 972ˣ, 325VI, 73aˣ, Bb(204va), en Holm4, 61(129rb), Tóm, ok 325V;    sína: sinna 73aˣ, sínu Tóm    [6] tengja: ‘t(r)ingia’(?) 972ˣ;    drengi: drengja Tóm    [7] hrátt: hart Bb(110ra);    gafsk: ‘ga(d)t’(?) Tóm

Editions: Skj AI, 423, Skj BI, 393, Skald I, 195; ÓT 1958-2000, II, 339 (ch. 282); Hkr 1893-1901, II, 527-8, IV, 177, ÍF 27, 413-14, Hkr 1991, II, 555 (ÓHHkr ch. 249); ÓH 1941, I, 612 (ch. 250).

Context: Vying for power in Norway, Sveinn Álfífuson and Tryggvi, son of Óláfr Tryggvason, bring their fleets together at Bókn (Bokn in Boknafjorden, Rogaland) and engage in a fierce battle on a Sunday. The following prose records the victory of Sveinn and the death of Tryggvi and many of his men.

Notes: [All]: For this battle, see also Sigv Tryggfl and its Context; and for a suggested connection between Sigv Nesv, Sigv Tryggfl and this stanza, see Hellberg (1972, 24-30) and Introduction to Sigv Tryggfl. — [1] sunnudag ‘a Sunday’: That the battle was fought on a Sunday, i.e. that sunnudag modifies the main clause, is the most natural interpretation and is the understanding of Snorri Sturluson (see Context). Alternatively, the word could conceivably be taken with the sem-clause in ll. 3-4, so that the battle is not fought on a Sunday, but is contrasted with pleasant relaxation on a Sunday. — [1] svanni ‘lady’: See Introduction. — [3] þann morgin ‘on that morning’: This could alternatively be taken with the intercalary clause in l. 2 (so ÍF 27). — [4] lauk ‘leek’: Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 27), cites Sigrdr 8/3 where laukr is thrown into a drink (albeit in a context involving magic); cf. also Vígf Lv 1/1 for laukr in a similar general context to the present one. On the properties of laukr, see further Note to Anon Vǫlsa 4/4. — [5] Sveinn: I.e. Sveinn Álfífuson, illegitimate son of Knútr inn ríki (Cnut the Great) and the English Álfífa (Ælfgifu of Northampton). He ruled Norway 1030-5 after the fall of Óláfr Haraldsson at Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad). — [6] drengi ‘warriors’: Drengr m. can mean ‘(young) man, (manly) man, warrior, servant’, and at least in early usage often has connotations of belonging to a tightly-bonded group (see Fritzner, LP: drengr; SnE 1998, II, 258; Jesch 1993a; Jesch 2001a, 216-32; Goetting 2006).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. 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.
4. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
5. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
6. 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.
7. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
8. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Jesch, Judith. 1993a. ‘Skaldic Verse and Viking Semantics’. In Faulkes et al. 1993, 160-71.
12. Goetting, Lauren. 2006. ‘Þegn and drengr in the Viking Age’. SS 78, 375-404.
13. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
14. Hellberg, Staffan. 1972. ‘Slaget vid Nesjar och “Sven jarl Håkonsson”’. SI 23, 21-30.
15. Internal references
16. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ 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. 383.
17. (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 24 April 2024)
19. Russell Poole 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Nesjavísur’ 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. 555. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1357> (accessed 24 April 2024)
20. Judith Jesch 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Tryggvaflokkr’ 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. 643. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1359> (accessed 24 April 2024)
21. Not published: do not cite ()
22. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Vígfúss Víga-Glúmsson, Lausavísa 1’ 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. 364.
23. Wilhelm Heizmann (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Vǫlsa þáttr 4’ 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. 1095.