Ív Sig 10^II

Gerðu skírslu        of skjǫldungs kyn
fimm byskupar,        þeirs framarst þóttu.
Svá bar raunir,        at ríks konungs
þess vas inn mildi        Magnús faðir.

Fimm byskupar, þeirs þóttu framarst, gerðu skírslu of kyn skjǫldungs. Svá bar raunir, at inn mildi Magnús vas faðir þess ríks konungs.

Five bishops, who were deemed most distinguished, conducted the ordeal concerning the lord’s kinship. Proofs were given that the generous Magnús was the father of that mighty king.

Mss: Mork(32v) (Mork); FskBˣ(93r), FskAˣ(367-368) (Fsk); Kˣ(640r), 39(43ra), F(69vb), E(51r), J2ˣ(344r), 42ˣ(37v) (Hkr); H(118r), Hr(77va) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] skírslu: skírsli FskAˣ, skírslur Kˣ, 39, F    [4] þeirs (‘þeir er’): þeir Hr    [5] raunir: raun F    [7] inn mildi: ins milda FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Kˣ, 39, F, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, H, Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 497, Skj BI, 469, Skald I, 230, NN §1154; Mork 1867, 203, Mork 1928-32, 408, Andersson and Gade 2000, 368-9, 491 (Sslemb); ÍF 29, 326-7 (ch. 96); ÍF 28, 298 (MbHg ch. 13), F 1871, 322, E 1916, 178-9; Fms 7, 200 (MbHg ch. 17).

Context: Five bishops witnessed the ordeal which Sigurðr underwent to prove his paternity. According to Fsk, Hkr and H-Hr, this took place in Denmark and was reported back in Norway by Sigurðr and his men. Mork places the ordeal in Palestine, citing this st., and later adds a second ordeal in Denmark with prose similar to that of the other versions but without the st. (Mork 1928-32, 412).

Notes: [All]: For ordeals in medieval Scandinavia, see ‘Gudsdom’ in KLNM 5, 545-55 and the references to legal sections in NGL V: járn 3; járnburðr; skírsl. Such ordeals were finally prohibited in all the Scandinavian countries in 1247 in connection with the visit of the papal legate William of Sabina. Several Norw. kings and noblemen of dubious paternity are said to have undergone ordeals. Haraldr gilli walked barefoot on nine red-hot ploughshares (Hkr, ÍF 28, 266 and n. 4) and the half-brother of Sverrir Sigurðarson, Jarl Eiríkr, carried red-hot iron (Sv, ÍF 30, 92-3), as did Erlingr steinveggr ‘Stonewall’, the son of Magnús Erlingsson (Bǫgl 1988, II, 23). The mother of Hákon Hákonarson, Inga of Varteig, was the last to carry glowing iron to prove the paternity of her son (Hák, E 1916, 496-8; Hákon was elected king of Norway in 1217). — [5] svá bar raunir ‘proofs were given’: The verb is used impersonally with raunir ‘proofs’ as the object. — [6-8]: The variant reading in the other mss can be construed as follows: at Magnús vas faðir þess ríks konungs ins milda ‘that Magnús was the father of that mighty, generous king’. However, this adjectival construction is extremely awkward (see NN §1154). It could well be that the variant entered Hkr and H-Hr from Fsk, perhaps caused by the similar wording in st. 13 (see also st. 36).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
6. KLNM = Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder fra vikingetid til reformationstid. 1956-78. 22 vols. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger. [References are to column nos.]
7. NGL = Keyser, R. et al., eds. 1846-95. Norges gamle love indtil 1387. 5 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Gröndahl.
8. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
10. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
11. Bǫgl 1988 = Magerøy, Hallvard, ed. 1988. Soga om Birkibeinar og Baglar: Boglunga sǫgur. Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt norrøne tekster 5. Oslo: Solum forlag and Kjeldeskriftfondet.
12. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
13. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
14. ÍF 30 = Sverris saga. Ed. Þorleifur Hauksson. 2007.
15. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
16. Internal references
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Sverris saga’ 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=2> (accessed 24 April 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 24 April 2024)
19. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar’ 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=33> (accessed 24 April 2024)
20. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 24 April 2024)
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hulda-Hrokkinskinna’ 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=84> (accessed 24 April 2024)
22. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Morkinskinna’ 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=87> (accessed 24 April 2024)
23. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga blinda ok Haralds gilla’ 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=145> (accessed 24 April 2024)