Sigv Víkv 3^I

Hríð varð stáls í stríðri
strǫng Herdala gǫngu
Finnlendinga at fundi
fylkis niðs in þriðja.
En austr við lô leysti
leið víkinga skeiðar;
Bálagarðs at borði
brimskíðum lá síða.

{In þriðja strǫng hríð stáls} {niðs fylkis} varð í stríðri gǫngu Herdala at fundi Finnlendinga. En leið leysti skeiðar víkinga austr við lô; Bálagarðssíða lá at borði {brimskíðum}.

{The third powerful storm of steel} [BATTLE] {of the descendant of the ruler} [= Óláfr] happened during the difficult journey to Herdalar in a meeting with Finns. And the sea let loose the warships of the vikings east by the breakers; Bálagarðssíða lay alongside {the surf-skis} [SHIPS].

Mss: Kˣ(223r-v) (Hkr); Holm2(6v), R686ˣ(11r), J2ˣ(120v), 325VI(5vb), 73aˣ(18v), 78aˣ(17v), 68(5v), 61(79rb-va), 325V(7vb), Bb(126ra), Flat(80ra), Tóm(95v) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] varð: var J2ˣ;    stáls: staðs Flat;    í: á 61, om. Flat;    stríðri: stirðri 78aˣ, stríði 61, Tóm    [3] ‑lendinga at: ‑lendingar Flat;    fundi: so all others, om. Kˣ    [4] niðs: niðr Holm2, J2ˣ, 78aˣ, 325V, Tóm, nið R686ˣ, ‘móz’ 73aˣ;    in: inn J2ˣ, 78aˣ, hins 68, 61, enn 325V, ein Bb, hina Flat, Tóm;    þriðja: þriðju Flat, Tóm    [5] austr: ‘ęstr’ Tóm;    leysti: lesti R686ˣ    [6] leið: lið 61, Tóm, breið Bb;    skeiðar: so 325VI, 73aˣ, 78aˣ, 68, skeiða Kˣ, skeiðir Holm2, J2ˣ, 325V, Bb, Flat, Tóm, skeiðir corrected from skeiðar R686ˣ, síðu 61    [7] Bálagarðs‑: ‘balagarst’ R686ˣ;    at: á J2ˣ;    borði: barði all others    [8] brimskíðum: ‘ba(u)ð vidum’(?) R686ˣ, ‘biskiðum’ 78aˣ;    lá: þá 325V;    ‑síða: ‘síð(u)’(?) 325VI, síðan 61, 325V, Bb, Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 223-4, Skj BI, 213, Skald I, 111, NN §§612, 2468; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 13, IV, 107-8, ÍF 27, 11, Hkr 1991, I, 258 (ÓHHkr ch. 9); ÓH 1941, I, 41 (ch. 22), Flat 1860-8, II, 18; Fell 1981b, 111-12, Jón Skaptason 1983, 55, 220-1.

Context: Óláfr has a difficult fight against some forest-dwelling Finns, in which he loses many men. The Finns use magic to raise a storm, but Óláfr escapes by beating along the coast and sailing out to sea.  

Notes: [All]: The reference to Finnlendingar ‘Finns’ in this stanza locates Herdalar (l. 2) and Bálagarðssíða (ll. 7, 8) in Finland, and previous eds assume Bálagarðssíða is on the south-west coast of Finland, which fits the Baltic context of the previous stanza. Snorri’s prose (see Context) also locates these events in Finnland, though the reference to magic suggests confusion with the more usual meaning of ON Finnar, ‘Saami’. The prose of ÓHLeg (1982, 42) assumes two separate events, first the third battle a Finnlande austr ‘in the east in Finland’ and then a raid in Bálagarðssíða, which it locates a Siolande ‘in Zealand’, consistent with this text’s interest in events in Denmark (see Introduction to this poem). — [5-6]: The detailed interpretation is problematic. (a) Here, it is assumed that leið is a heiti for ‘sea’ (cf. SnE 1998, I, 92, citing Anon (SnE) 11^III; also SnSt Ht 34/3^III) and is the subject of the sentence. Leysti ‘loosened, set loose’ with flota ‘fleet’ as its object is found as a variant in ESk Ingdr^II 4/6 (see Note), and with lábrostinn lögr ‘wave-bursting sea’ as its subject and flaust ‘ships’ as its object in Sturl Hrafn 15/5^II, though in the latter there is an adverbial phrase to explain what the ships were loosened from. The use of lô ‘breakers’ in this sentence and brim- ‘surf’ in l. 8, though conventional diction, might suggest a turbulent sea which could have set the ships loose from their moorings. (b) Indeed, Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) takes lô as the subject of the sentence, and reads við austrleið ‘from the east coast’, though this is precluded by the syntax, since prep. við must modify lô, which follows it (cf. Kuhn 1983, 120-2 on the placing of prepositions). (c) Kock (NN §612) takes the king as the implied subject of the clause, but his interpretation requires an otherwise unknown word leiðvíkinga, in which he regards leið as equivalent to leiðangr, a seaborne expedition (cf. Note to Hár Lv 1/1-4). (d) Jón Helgason (1935-6, 263) preferred to take leið víkinga ‘path of vikings’ as a kenning for the sea. This would be an attractive solution, which avoids attaching the label víkingar to Óláfr’s troop (see Note to l. 6 below), but close parallels are lacking. — [5] lô ‘the breakers’: This word occurs in Þul Sjóvar 4/2^III, where the context suggests breaking waves, and in Blakkr Lv 2/6^II the lô ‘sea’ is said to reiða ‘toss’. — [6] víkinga ‘of the vikings’: The m. noun víkingr can have both positive and negative connotations in C11th and C12th poetry (see Note to Hskv Útdr 1/1, 4^II), and the occurrences here and in st. 6/6 (see Note) are ambiguous in their reference and connotions, while in st. 10/6 the víkingar are clearly Óláfr’s enemies, but their identity is not certain. The skeiðar víkinga ‘warships of the vikings’ are taken here to be those of Óláfr and his followers and so víkingar refers to them. See Note to ll. 5-6 above for an alternative proposed by Kock. For a further ambiguous instance of víkingar, see Ótt Knútdr 5/4 and Note. — [6] skeiðar (acc. pl.) ‘the warships’: This reading is adopted by previous eds; Kˣ’s reading skeiða can be explained as resulting from the simple loss of an abbreviation mark. Jón Helgason (1935-6) preferred the reading skeiðir, which occurs in several unrelated mss. In fact, this word is of a class which varied enormously in its pl. forms (ANG §416.3, 4). — [7] at borði ‘alongside’: Only Kˣ has this reading (though it is confirmed in papp18ˣ), while all the ÓH mss have barði, which is adopted by previous eds. Both barð ‘fore-stem’ (or a part of it, see Note to Sigv Vestv 1/3) and borð ‘plank’ refer to a part of a ship and can be used either specifically or as a pars pro toto for ‘ship’. Here, borði is selected, as the reading of the main ms. and since it supplies skothending (borð- : garð-), which would be expected in an odd line, although an aðalhending (barð- : garð-) would be paralleled in l. 1 (hríð : stríð-). — [8] brimskíðum ‘the surf-skis [SHIPS]’: Cf. Note to st. 1/4 above.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Fell, Christine E. 1981b. ‘Víkingarvísur’. In Dronke et al. 1981, 106-22.
6. 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.
7. 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.
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 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
9. Jón Helgason. 1935-6. ‘Til skjaldedigtningen’. APS 10, 250-64.
10. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1983. Das Dróttkvætt. Heidelberg: Winter.
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. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
14. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
15. 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.
16. Internal references
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 25 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 25 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 25 April 2024)
20. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Einarr Skúlason, Ingadrápa’ 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. 561-5. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1148> (accessed 25 April 2024)
21. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Stanzas from Snorra Edda 11’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 522.
22. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Hárekr í Þjóttu, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 808.
23. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Sjóvar heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 833. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3204> (accessed 25 April 2024)
24. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Halldórr skvaldri, Útfarardrápa 1’ 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. 484-5.
25. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Knútsdrápa 5’ 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. 772.
26. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Vestrfararvísur 1’ 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. 617.
27. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 34’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1141.
28. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrafnsmál 15’ 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. 740.