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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Sigv Berv 5II

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Bersǫglisvísur 5’ 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. 16-17.

Sigvatr ÞórðarsonBersǫglisvísur
456

Hét, sás fell á Fitjum,
fjǫlgegn, ok réð hegna
heiptar rán, en hônum,
Hôkun, firar unnu.
Þjóð helt fast á fóstra
fjǫlblíðs lǫgum síðan
(enn eru af, þvís minnir)
Aðalsteins (búendr seinir).

Hôkun, sás fell á Fitjum, hét fjǫlgegn ok réð hegna heiptar rán, en firar unnu hônum. Síðan helt þjóð fast á lǫgum {fjǫlblíðs fóstra Aðalsteins}; enn eru búendr seinir af, þvís minnir.

Hákon, who fell at Fitjar, was called most just, and he punished hostile looting, and people loved him. Later men held firmly onto the laws {of the most friendly foster-son of Æthelstan} [= Hákon]; the farmers are still slow to relinquish what they remember.

Mss: (504r-v), 39(14va), E(5v), J2ˣ(245r-v) (Hkr); Holm2(74r), 972ˣ(584va), 972ˣ(584vb), 325VI(42rb), 321ˣ(282), 73aˣ(216r), 325VII(41v), 325V(89va), 61(130rb), Tóm(161r), Bb(206rb) (ÓH); H(4r), Hr(6ra) (H-Hr); Flat(190ra) (Flat)

Readings: [1] Hét: Lét Bb;    á: í 972ˣ(584vb)    [2] hegna: þegna Holm2, 972ˣ(584va), 325VII, 325V, 61, Tóm, ‘tegner’ 972ˣ(584vb)    [3] rán: rann Hr;    en: ok 39, E, J2ˣ, Holm2, 972ˣ(584va), 972ˣ(584vb), 325VI, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 325VII, 325V, Tóm, af 61, at Bb    [4] Hôkun: ‘ha[...]’ 325VII;    firar: ‘fir[...]’ 325VII, firum Bb;    unnu: undu E, J2ˣ, Holm2, 972ˣ(584va), 972ˣ(584vb), 325VI, 73aˣ, Bb, H, Hr, mundu 321ˣ, ‘[...]nu’ 325VII, rku 325V, 61, Tóm, undar Flat    [6] ‑blíðs: ‑blíðr 972ˣ(584va), ‘‑drif’ Flat;    lǫgum: ‘[...]gum’ 325VII, dǫgum 325V, 61, Tóm;    síðan: síðar 972ˣ(584vb), Flat    [7] enn: er 39;    eru: er 325V;    af: á Holm2, 972ˣ(584vb);    þvís minnir (‘þvi er minnir’): ‘dri er miner’ 972ˣ(584vb), því minni 325VI, 321ˣ, H, Hr, því at minnir 73aˣ, 61, er minnir Bb, því inni Flat    [8] búendr: bœndr 39, 325VI, Bb, Hr, Flat, bǫndr 61;    seinir: ‘semer’ 972ˣ(584vb), ‘seirne’ Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 252, Skj BI, 235, Skald I, 122, NN §2776; ÍF 28, 27 (Mgóð ch. 16), E 1916, 17; ÓH 1941, I, 625 (ch. 261); Fms 6, 39-40 (Mgóð ch. 22); Flat III, 1860-8, 268, Mork 1928-32, 27, Andersson and Gade 2000, 105, 467 (MH); Jón Skaptason 1983, 141, 289.

Notes: [4] Hôkun ‘Hákon’: Hákon inn góði ‘the Good’ Haraldsson died at the battle of Fitjar, Stord, Norway (c. 961). He was the son of King Haraldr hárfagri Hálfdanarson and the foster-son of King Æthelstan (Aðalsteinn) of England (r. 924-39). He is said to have promulgated the laws of Gulatinget (Gulaþing, Gula Assembly) and Frostatinget (Frostaþing, Frosta Assembly) (see ÍF 26, 163 and n. 1). — [4] unnu ‘loved’: 3rd pers. pl. pret. indic. of the pret.-pres. verb unna. The variant form undu is late (see ANG §523.1 Anm. 1). — [7, 8] enn eru búendr seinir af ‘the farmers are still slow to relinquish’: Lit. ‘the farmers are still slow to be done with’. — [7] þvís minnir ‘what they remember’: Lit. ‘what reminds [them]’. Skj B adopts the variant því minni ‘that memory’: endnu er bønderne på grund av erindringen derom træge ‘still the farmers are slow because of that memory’, but that reading is not warranted by the ms. witnesses, since it is found only in 325VI, 321ˣ, H and Hr.

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
  4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  6. 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.
  7. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
  8. 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 4to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
  9. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
  10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
  11. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
  12. 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.
  13. Internal references
  14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ 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=44> (accessed 19 March 2024)
  15. Russell Poole 2012, ‘(Biography of) Haraldr hárfagri Hálfdanarson’ 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. 67.
  16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða’ 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=147> (accessed 19 March 2024)
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