Sigv Vestv 5^I

Knútr hefr okkr inn ítri
alldáðgǫfugr bôðum
hendr, es hilmi fundum,
Húnn, skrautliga búnar.
Þér gaf hann mǫrk eða meira
margvitr ok hjǫr bitran
golls — ræðr gǫrva ǫllu
goð sjalfr — en mér halfa.

Inn ítri Knútr, alldáðgǫfugr, hefr búnar hendr okkr bôðum skrautliga, Húnn, es fundum hilmi. Þér gaf hann margvitr mǫrk eða meira golls ok bitran hjǫr, en mér halfa; goð sjalfr ræðr ǫllu gǫrva.

The excellent Knútr, highly renowned for deeds, has adorned both our arms splendidly, Húnn (‘Bear-Cub’) [Bersi], when we met the ruler. To you he, wise in many ways, gave a mark or more of gold and a sharp sword, and to me half [a mark]; God himself decides everything completely.

Mss: Kˣ(369v) (Hkr); Holm2(41v), 325V(44va), 972ˣ(296va), J2ˣ(182v), 325VI(29vb), 75a(30vb), 73aˣ(134v), 68(40r), 61(104vb), Holm4(34vb), 325VII(23v), Bb(171va), Flat(111vb), Tóm(129v), 325XI 2 g(2va) (ÓH); JÓ(34), 873ˣ(15r), 20dˣ(14v), 41ˣ(14r-v), 20i 23ˣ(19v-20v) (Knýtl)

Readings: [1] Knútr hefr okkr: ‘[…](oc)r’(?) 325XI 2 g;    inn: ‘e’ 325XI 2 g    [2] ‑dáðgǫfugr: ‘‑daðgꜹfgr’ J2ˣ, ‘‑daðgavfor’ 68, ‑dag gǫfugr Bb, ‑dáðgǫfugr with ‘‑dafugr’ in margin (citing ‘membr’) JÓ, 20i 23ˣ, ‘dadgofigr’ 873ˣ, ‘‑dafugur’ 41ˣ;    bôðum: ‘baþ[…]’ 325XI 2 g, om. 20dˣ    [3] hendr es hilmi: ‘[…]lmi’ 325XI 2 g;    hendr: hendi 73aˣ;    es (‘er’): síz 325V, Tóm, enn 68, Bb, Flat, ‘s[…]’ 325VII;    hilmi: holmi J2ˣ;    fundum: fundu 41ˣ    [4] Húnn: so 73aˣ, Tóm, hún Kˣ, Holm2, 325V, J2ˣ, Holm4, 325VII, Bb, Flat, 325XI 2 g, húns 325VI, 68, 61, JÓ, 873ˣ, 20dˣ, 41ˣ, 20i 23ˣ;    skrautliga: skrautligast Holm4, 325VII, Bb, Flat;    búnar: corrected from búnir 325VII    [5] Þér gaf hann mǫrk: ‘[…]ꜹrc’ 325XI 2 g;    Þér: corrected from þar 325VII;    hann: om. 75a    [6] margvitr: ‘Mart[…]vitr’ 972ˣ, ‘marg[…]r’ 325VI, manvitr 325VII;    bitran: ‘tiartan’ 972ˣ, bjartan 325VII, Tóm, ‘[…]’ 325XI 2 g    [7] golls: ‘[…]’ 325XI 2 g;    ræðr: réð 75a;    ǫllu: heillum J2ˣ, 75a    [8] mér halfa: mér sjalfa Flat, ‘[…]’ 325XI 2 g

Editions: Skj AI, 242, Skj BI, 227, Skald I, 118; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 286, IV, 140, ÍF 27, 224, Hkr 1991, I, 413 (ÓHHkr ch. 131); ÓH 1941, I, 342 (ch. 120), Flat 1860-8, II, 253; ÍF 35, 126-7 (Knýtl ch. 19); Jón Skaptason 1983, 108, 251.

Context:

In ÓH-Hkr, Sigvatr is in England with King Knútr when he makes a claim on Norway. The king gives Sigvatr a gold ring and Bersi Skáld-Torfuson two gold rings and a sword. In Knýtl, the citation of Þloft Tøgdr 7 is followed by a reference to Knútr’s gift to Bersi and this stanza, but there is no mention of a gift to Sigvatr.

Notes: [4] Húnn ‘Húnn (“Bear-Cub”) [Bersi]’: Bersi Skáld-Torfuson (Bersi; see skald Biography). He is here referred to by ofljóst, since both húnn and bersi are common nouns for ‘bear’, the former particularly meaning ‘bear-cub’ (LP: 1. húnn 1). — [7-8] goð sjalfr ræðr ǫllu gǫrva ‘God himself decides everything completely’: It is not clear whether the dominant tone here is of resignation (cf. Hkr 1893-1901, IV) or of hope for better things (ÍF 27; also Hkr 1991). The stanza is probably best read in conjunction with st. 7 as the poet accepting the financial consequences of not becoming a firm supporter of Knútr.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
8. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
10. 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.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Knýtlinga saga’ 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=19> (accessed 26 April 2024)
13. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Bersi Skáld-Torfuson’ 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. 789.
14. (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)
15. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórarinn loftunga, Tøgdrápa 7’ 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. 861.