Rv Lv 5^II

Liggja sék á leggjum
(láss bannar þér rásir)
kveldfǫrlustum karli
(Kúgi) járn in bjúgu.
Eiguð aldri, Kúgi,
— aptr munt settr af prettum —
— nauðrs at nýta eiða —
náttþing, ok halt sáttir.

Sék in bjúgu járn liggja á leggjum kveldfǫrlustum karli; Kúgi, láss bannar þér rásir. Eiguð aldri náttþing, Kúgi, ok halt sáttir; munt aptr settr af prettum; nauðrs at nýta eiða.

I see the curved irons lying on the legs of the old man who was out and about most in the evening; Kúgi, the lock prevents you from running. Never hold night-meetings, Kúgi, and keep to agreements; you will be hindered from treacherous deeds; it is necessary to keep to oaths.

Mss: Flat(137vb), R702ˣ(41v) (Orkn)

Readings: [1] á: so R702ˣ, at Flat    [4] Kúgi: Kúga R702ˣ    [5] Eiguð: so R702ˣ, ‘ægit’ Flat    [6] prettum: ‘fietrum’ R702ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 506, Skj BI, 479-80, Skald I, 235; Flat 1860-8, II, 458, Orkn 1887, 124, Orkn 1913-16, 183, ÍF 34, 165 (ch. 72), Bibire 1988, 227.

Context: Kúgi of Rapness (Hreppisnes) on Westray is described in Orkn ch. 56 as a vitr maðr ok auðigr ‘wise and wealthy man’ (ÍF 34, 120) who is one of the main supporters of Rǫgnvaldr’s rival, Páll jarl Hákonarson. After an unsuccessful attempt to invade Orkney in 1135, Rǫgnvaldr succeeded in the following year by sabotaging the early-warning beacon and exploiting dissension among Páll’s followers. On Rǫgnvaldr’s arrival in Westray, many of the inhabitants submitted to him, including Kúgi, who had been arrested by Rǫgnvaldr’s men on suspicion of treachery. The st. is Rǫgnvaldr’s response to Kúgi’s eloquent plea for mercy; he goes on to give ǫllum mǫnnum grið ‘a truce to everyone’.

Notes: [1] leggjum ‘legs’: While the normal ON meaning of leggr includes all four limbs, it is used to mean ‘leg’ in st. 32/8 and the context here suggests that only the legs were shackled (cf. l. 2). — [4] Kúgi ‘Kúgi’: The variant Kúga in R702ˣ could be construed as in apposition to l. 3, but the vocative seems preferable given the 2nd pers. pron. in l. 2. This Kúgi appears to be the only person recorded with this name (Lind 1905-15, 722); although it also appears in Anon Kúgdr^III, this probably refers to the same person. It is conceivable that the name arose as a nickname after the fact of his submission to Rǫgnvaldr (cf. the verb kúga ‘intimidate, force into submission’, and the C12th nickname kúgaðr, Lind 1920-1, 224), in which case the st. may not be contemporary with the event. — [4] in bjúgu járn ‘the curved irons’: This phrase seems to describe iron shackles, which usually have a semicircular shape, rather than the ‘twisted fetters’ envisaged by Bibire 1988. — [5] eiguð ‘hold’: Skj B interprets Flat’s ‘ægit’ as the subj. form eigið but, as there seems to be no motivation for a subj., R702ˣ’s normal imp. form eiguð (the formal or polite 2nd pers. pl.) is preferred here. — [6] prettum ‘treacherous deeds’: The variant in R702ˣ may have been influenced by the prose, in which Kúgi is said to have been placed í fjǫtra ‘in fetters’ (ÍF 34, 164).

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. 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.
5. Lind, Eric Henrik. 1920-1. Norsk-isländska personbinamn från medeltiden: samlade ock utgivna med forkläringar. Uppsala: Lundequist.
6. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
7. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Bibire, Paul. 1988. ‘The Poetry of Earl Rǫgnvaldr’s Court’. In Crawford 1988, 208-40.
9. Lind, Eric Henrik. 1905-15. Norsk-isländska dopnamn ock fingerade namn från medeltiden. Uppsala: Lundequist and Leipzig: Harrassowitz.
10. Orkn 1887 = Gudbrand Vigfusson 1887-94, I.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Orkneyinga 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=47> (accessed 19 April 2024)
13. Tarrin Wills 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Kúgadrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 535. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1021> (accessed 19 April 2024)