Sigv Nesv 14^I

Afli vex, þvít efla
Upplendingar sendi
— Sveinn, funduð þat — þenna
þilblakks konung vilja.
Raun es hins, at Heinir
(hrælinns) megu vinna
(þeir œxla frør) fleira
fjǫlrekks an ǫl drekka.

Afli vex, þvít Upplendingar vilja efla {þenna sendi {þilblakks}} konung; Sveinn, funduð þat. Raun es hins, at Heinir megu vinna fleira an drekka ǫl fjǫlrekks; þeir œxla {frør {hrælinns}}.

[His] strength increases, because the Upplendingar want to support {this launcher {of the plank-horse}} [SHIP > SEAFARER = Óláfr] as king; Sveinn, you discovered that. There is proof of this, that the Heinir can do more than drink the ale of the man with many warriors; they augment {the frost {of the corpse-snake}} [SWORD > BATTLE].

Mss: Kˣ(254v), papp18ˣ(77r) (Hkr); Holm2(13r), R686ˣ(26v), 972ˣ(90va), J1ˣ(160v-161r), J2ˣ(136v), 325VI(11va), 75a(2rb), 68(12v), 61(85ra), Holm4(5rb), 325V(17ra), 325VII(5v), Bb(135vb), Flat(83vb), Tóm(102v) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] vex: vætt Holm2, 972ˣ, vætr R686ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, vóx Holm4;    þvít (‘þvi at’): þá er 325VI, 75a, þat er 68, þar er 61;    efla: afla 68    [2] ‑lendingar: ‑lendinga Holm2, 325VI, Holm4, ‑lendingum R686ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, ‘‑ledinga’ 75a;    sendi: sendu 972ˣ, 68, sendis Holm4    [3] Sveinn: Sveins Holm2, 972ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, ‘su[…]’ R686ˣ, svinn 61, Svein 325VII, Flat, Tóm;    funduð: finnum 61, finnit Bb, fundu Flat;    þat: þar Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 325VII, þér Holm4, Flat, Tóm;    þenna: þinna 972ˣ    [4] þilblakks: ‘þilklaks’ R686ˣ, ‘þic blakks’ 75a, þriðja til 61, þvílíks Tóm;    konung: konungs papp18ˣ, 75a, 68, 61, 325V, Flat, Tóm, konungr 325VI, Holm4, 325VII    [5] Raun: rán J1ˣ, J2ˣ, ‘[…]n’ 325V;    hins: ‘herins’ with ‘hins’ in margin Holm2, ‘hin[…]’ R686ˣ;    Heinir: heinar R686ˣ, 972ˣ, ‘heynir’ 61    [6] ‑linns: ‑linn 75a, 68, 61, Flat, Tóm;    megu: so Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 68, 61, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, megut Kˣ, papp18ˣ, megi 325VI, 75a, megir Tóm    [7] þeir: so Holm2, R686ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 68, 61, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, vér Kˣ, papp18ˣ, þar 972ˣ, þeim 75a, om. Tóm;    œxla: so 325VII, Flat, gerðum Kˣ, papp18ˣ, ôttu Holm2, 972ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 68, 61, Bb, reyndu R686ˣ, ætla Holm4, ‘æskia’ 325V, axla Tóm;    frør: fǫr Kˣ, papp18ˣ, flug Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 68, 61, Holm4, Bb, fals 325V, ‘faus’ 325VII, foss Flat, ‘fros’ Tóm;    fleira: fleina Holm2, 972ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 68, 61, Bb, Tóm, ‘flei[…]’ R686ˣ, fleiri 325VII    [8] fjǫlrekks (‘fiolrecs’): so R686ˣ, J2ˣ, 68, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, Flat, ‘folcreks’ Kˣ, papp18ˣ, ‘folrecs’ Holm2, ‘fiolkræs’ J1ˣ, ‘fiallrecks’ 325VI, 75a, ‘folk hrekks’ 61, ‘fiolrek’ Bb, ‘fiolreck(a)’(?) Tóm;    an: er J1ˣ, eigi J2ˣ;    ǫl: ǫll J1ˣ;    drekka: dreka R686ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 232, Skj BI, 219-20, Skald I, 114, NN §623; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 77, IV, 125-6, ÍF 27, 69-70 (ÓHHkr ch. 52); Fms 4, 104-5, Fms 12, 81, ÓH 1941, I, 98-9 (ch. 40), Flat 1860-8, II, 46; CPB II, 128-9, Poole 2005d, 178.

Context: ÓH-Hkr places st. 14 immediately after sts 11 and 12.

Notes: [1, 2, 3, 4] efla þenna sendi … konung ‘support this launcher … as king’: Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 27, followed by Jón Skaptason 1983, 235) notes this unusual construction, in place of more usual efla til konungs ‘support as king’; see further Note to l. 4 konung. — [2] Upplendingar: The people of Upplǫnd (Opplandene, Norway), which comprised present-day Hedmark (home of the Heinir, l. 5), Hadeland, Romerike, Gudbrandsdalen and Østerdalen. — [3] Sveinn: A remarkable use of apostrophe to the certainly absent Sveinn. — [4] þilblakks ‘of the plank-horse [SHIP]’: The first element in this kenning is þil n., a collective noun meaning ‘decking’ and cognate with the more familiar þilja ‘deck-plank’ (Jesch 2001a, 151). — [4] konung ‘king’: It is difficult to establish the original reading here. (a) The weight of ms. support is for the acc. (selected in ÍF 27, and see first Note above). (b) Finnur Jónsson selects konungs, governing afli ‘strength’ (Hkr 1893-1901; Skj B). (c) Kock (NN §623) defends nom. konungr, construing it as an apostrophe, a counterpart to Sveinn in l. 3. — [6, 7] þeir œxla frør hrælinns ‘they augment the frost of the corpse-snake [SWORD > BATTLE]’: Lines 6-7 exhibit a wide variance in readings, and the main solutions adopted by previous eds present difficulties. (a) K (represented by Kˣ and papp18ˣ) gives hrælinns … vér gerðum fǫr ‘we made a journey of the corpse-snake [SWORD > BATTLE]’ (cf. ÍF 27). However, fǫr is unique to K, and although K stands high in the stemma and is normally a reliable guide, it is not free from scribal emendations. Gerðum fǫr ‘we made a journey’ looks like a simplification designed to supply hrælinns ‘corpse-snake [SWORD]’ with a base-word fǫr ‘journey’, the whole yielding a kenning for ‘battle’. (b) Mss J1ˣ, J2ˣ, Holm2, 325VI, Bb read hrælinns … þeir ôttu flug fleina ‘of the corpse-snake [SWORD] they had the flight of barbs [BATTLE]’. Here flug can form a battle-kenning with either fleina ‘of barbs’ or possibly with hrælinns ‘of the corpse-snake [SWORD]’ (so Hkr 1893-1901; Skj B), but the other is then superfluous. It therefore appears that fleina is a modification of original fleira ‘more’, which is needed in association with an ‘than’ in l. 8 (and is adopted in Hkr 1893-1901; Skj B). Flug fleina may well have been been prompted in transmission by the identical phrase in st. 5/5. (c) Flug is also a doubtful reading since flug(r) ‘flight’ is unlikely to be combined with the sword-kenning hrælinns and since, as an obvious piece of vocabulary, flugr could scarcely have given rise to the array of alternative readings ‘fals’, ‘faus’, ‘foss’ and ‘fros’. Flug and fǫr are most probably substitutions for a less familiar word that would have combined with hrælinns to form a kenning for ‘shield’, ‘blood’, or ‘battle’. The only suitable candidate is frør ‘frost’, which yields a kenning for ‘battle’ parallel to frost in st. 3/3. The similarly wide variation in readings of the verb (ôttu, reyndu, ætla, ‘æskia’, axla and œxla) can be accounted for as originating in œxla ‘augment’, a relatively uncommon word. Preceded as it is by the cognate word vex ‘increases’ in l. 1, it could be seen as selected by Sigvatr in a further instance of etymological word-play (see Notes to sts 2/1 and 3/1). — [8] fjǫlrekks ‘of the man with many warriors’: Amongst the variant readings, this can be identified as the most likely original (cf. CPB), a cpd of fjǫl- ‘many’ and rekkr ‘man, warrior’. Although a hap. leg., it represents a natural extension from the familiar cpd fjǫlmennr ‘with many men, with a large following’, also fjǫlgestr ‘with many guests’. Its use here as a substantival adj. may have led to confusion in transmission. Fjǫlrekks is further supported by the fact that ÓHLeg (1982, 72) seems to draw upon st. 14 (though without citing it) in a version that contained this word when it mentions that Óláfr gained fiolmenne ‘a numerous following’ by distributing largesse to the Upplendingar. The first element folk in the reading of K (and 61) and adopted by Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901; Skj B; LP: folkrekr ‘people’s ruler’) appears to be a secondary development from fjǫl (Poole 2005d, 180-1 and cf. the comments on K in the Note to ll. 6-7 above). — [8] drekka ǫl ‘drink the ale’: It was the custom to make pledges of allegiance and support during the drinking of ale or mead.

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. 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.
7. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
8. CPB = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and F. York Powell, eds. 1883. Corpus poeticum boreale: The Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue from the Earliest Times to the Thirteenth Century. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon. Rpt. 1965, New York: Russell & Russell.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
12. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
13. 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.
14. Poole, Russell. 2005d. ‘The Nesjavísur of Sigvatr Þórðarson’. MS 15, 171-98.
15. Internal references
16. (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 26 April 2024)
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga (Legendary)’ 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=31> (accessed 26 April 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ 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=53> (accessed 26 April 2024)
19. (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 26 April 2024)
20. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Þorleikr fagri, Flokkr about Sveinn Úlfsson’ 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. 313-22. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1430> (accessed 26 April 2024)