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.
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: Kˣ(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, rku 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.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.