Sigv Austv 13^I

Átt hafa sér, þeirs sóttu,
sendimenn fyr hendi
Sygna grams, með sagnir
siklinga, fǫr mikla.
Spǫrðumk fæst, en fyrða
fǫng eru stór við gǫngu;
vǫrðr réð nýtr, þvís norðan,
Nóregs, þinig fórum.

Sendimenn {grams Sygna}, þeirs sóttu siklinga með sagnir, hafa átt sér mikla fǫr fyr hendi. Spǫrðumk fæst, en fǫng fyrða eru stór við gǫngu; {nýtr vǫrðr Nóregs} réð, þvís fórum norðan þinig.

The messengers {of the lord of the Sygnir} [NORWEGIAN KING = Óláfr], who sought out lords with messages, have had a big journey on their hands. I spared myself very little, but men’s baggage is large along the way; {the able guardian of Norway} [= Óláfr] determined that we went from the north in that direction.

Mss: Holm2(26r), R686ˣ(49v), 972ˣ(178va), J2ˣ(160v-161r), 325VI(17ra-b), 75a(15ra-b), 73aˣ(65r-v), 68(24v), 61(94rb), Holm4(17rb), 325VII(12v), Flat(93ra), Tóm(113v) (ÓH); Kˣ(304v-305r); Bb(153ra) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] Átt: ‘Attȧ’ Tóm;    hafa: hafr R686ˣ;    sér: þeir 68, om. Tóm;    þeirs (‘þeir er’): sér er 68    [2] fyr: af Flat    [3] Sygna: Sygni Tóm;    með: so 325VI, 68, 61, Holm4, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, Kˣ, við Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 75a, 73aˣ, Bb    [4] fǫr: so J2ˣ, 75a, 68, 61, Holm4, Tóm, Kˣ, ‘for’ Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, 325VI, 73aˣ, 325VII, Flat, Bb;    mikla: ‘mikka’ R686ˣ    [5] Spǫrðumk: spurðumk 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 75a, Holm4, Tóm, Bb, spurðusk 73aˣ, spurðisk 61, spǫrðusk 325VII, spurðu Flat;    fæst: flest 75a, 73aˣ, Holm4, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, færst 61, fest Bb;    en: er 75a, né 68;    fyrða: furða 68, Bb, fyrðar Flat    [6] stór: stœrst Bb;    gǫngu: so R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 75a, 73aˣ, 68, 61, Bb, corrected from ‘gaundo’ Holm2, gǫngur Holm4, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, Kˣ    [7] réð: veldr 61;    nýtr: ‘nitur’ 972ˣ, nítr Kˣ;    þvís (‘þvi er’): fyrir 75a, er 73aˣ, þat et 68, því Holm4    [8] Nóregs: Nóreg 75a, ‘norígs’ Tóm;    þinig: þung R686ˣ, þannig 325VI, Flat, Tóm;    fórum: fóru 68, fǫrum Flat, ‘forvund’ Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 237, Skj BI, 223, Skald I, 116, NN §2448A, 2473; Fms 4, 188, Fms 12, 84-5, ÓH 1941, I, 202 (ch. 75), Flat 1860-8, II, 114; Hkr 1777-1826, II, 126, VI, 86, Hkr 1868, 309 (ÓHHkr ch. 92), Hkr 1893-1901, II, 173, ÍF 27, 139, Hkr 1991, I, 349 (ÓHHkr ch. 91); Ternström 1871, 18-19, 47-8, Jón Skaptason 1983, 94, 242.

Context: When they have arrived at Rǫgnvaldr jarl’s residence, the jarl says they must have had a difficult journey, and Sigvatr responds with this and the following stanza.

Notes: [3] grams Sygna ‘of the lord of the Sygnir [NORWEGIAN KING = Óláfr]’: The phrase is here construed with sendimenn ‘messengers’ in l. 2, and sagnir in l. 3 is understood as their messages. However, E. Noreen (1923, 40; also Kock, NN §2473) is quite possibly right that grams Sygna depends on sagnir, which could have the sense ‘troop of men’, here ‘messengers’. — [4] siklinga ‘lords’: Ternström (1871, 47) regards this as gen. pl., depending on sagnir ‘messages’. — [6] fǫng ‘baggage’: Alternative semantic interpretations are possible here. (a) The analysis of Noreen (1923, 40), followed here, is that Sigvatr means to say that although he pampered himself little, and thus he brought along few provisions, the baggage nonetheless was a source of difficulty. Thus, stór ‘large’ in l. 6 would imply ‘heavy’: so Jón Skaptason (1983, 94); Hkr 1991. This interpretation is in keeping with the comedic elements of some of the preceding stanzas. (b) Finnur Jónsson (LP: 2. fang 4) takes this to mean ‘difficulties’, and though Noreen is right that the word is not otherwise attested in this sense, it does commonly mean ‘grappling, wrestling’, which seems close enough in meaning to Finnur’s intent. — [6] gǫngu ‘the way’: The Kˣ reading, pl. gǫngur, is preferred by Noreen (1923, 40).

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. 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. 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.
7. 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.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
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. Ternström, Alfred. 1871. Om skalden Sighvat Thordsson och tolkning af hans Austrfararvísur, Vestrfararvísur och Knútsdrápa. Lund: Ohlsson.
13. Hkr 1777-1826 = Schöning, Gerhard et al., eds. 1777-1826. Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga-sögor. 6 vols. Copenhagen: Stein.
14. Hkr 1868 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1868. Heimskringla eller Norges kongesagaer af Snorre Sturlassøn. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger & Christie.
15. Noreen, Erik. 1923. Studier i fornvästnordisk diktning: tredje samlingen. Uppsala: Akademiska bokhandeln.
16. Internal references
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)