R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 18’ 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. 722.
Stóðk á Mont, ok minntumk,
mǫrg hvar sundr fló targa
breið ok brynjur síðar
borgum nær, of morgin.
Munða ek, þanns unnði
(ǫndverðan brum) lǫndum,
(faðir minn vas þar þenna
Þórrøðr) konung, forðum.
Stóðk of morgin á Mont, ok minntumk, hvar mǫrg breið targa ok síðar brynjur fló sundr nær borgum. Munða ek konung, þanns forðum unnði lǫndum; Þórrøðr faðir minn vas þar þenna ǫndverðan brum.
I stood one morning in the Alps, and I remembered where many a broad shield, and long mail-shirts, flew asunder near towns. I recalled the king who once enjoyed his lands; Þórðr my father was there early in that period.
Mss: Holm2(73v), 972ˣ(580va), 325VI(41rb), 321ˣ(278), 73aˣ(214r), Holm4(68vb), 61(129vb), 325V(88rb), 325VII(41r), Bb(205rb), Flat(126vb), Tóm(160v) (ÓH); Kˣ(498v), 39(13rb), F(37vb-38ra), J2ˣ(241v), E(4r) (Hkr)
Readings: [1] Stóðk (‘Stod ec’): stóð 325VI, 321ˣ, 325V; á Mont: ‘ꜳ mænt’ 73aˣ, á mót 61, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, á munt Kˣ; ok: þá er 325VI, 321ˣ, er 61, 325V, 325VII, en Flat, Tóm; minntumk: minntisk 325VI, 321ˣ [2] mǫrg: ‘maugr’ 325V; hvar: brast 61, Flat, brast í Tóm; sundr: suðr 325V; fló (‘flꜹg’): om. 61, Flat, Tóm, var 325VII, flǫg E; targa: tjarga 972ˣ, 61 [3] brynjur: brynjar 972ˣ, ‘bryni[…]’ 325VI, ‘brynur’ 325V; síðar: síðan 73aˣ [4] borgum: ‘b[…]’ 325VI; nær: mær 321ˣ, nærr 73aˣ, Flat; of: af 321ˣ [5] þanns (‘þann er’): so 73aˣ, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Kˣ, 39, F, J2ˣ, E, þar er Holm2, 972ˣ, er 325VI, 321ˣ, hann er 61, om. Tóm; unnði: hendi 61, yndi 325V, endi Flat, ‘hemðe’ Tóm, varði 39, F [6] ǫnd‑: ‘on‑’ Bb; ‑verðan (‘‑urþan’): ‘‑urðum’ 972ˣ, ‑verðum Holm4, ‑varðar 325VII, ‘‑urnum’ J2ˣ, E; brum: bryn 61, 325VII; lǫndum: landa 325VI, 321ˣ, J2ˣ, E, sundum 325V [7] faðir: ferð 61, Flat, Tóm; minn: mín 61, 325V, Tóm; þar: so Kˣ, 39, F, þá Holm2, 972ˣ, 325VI, 321ˣ, Holm4, 61, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm, J2ˣ, E, þó 73aˣ; þenna: þessa 325V [8] Þórrøðr: ‘þororþr’ 972ˣ, ‘þorðre᷎ðr’ Holm4, ‘þordendr’ 61, Flat, ‘þoroðr’ 325V, J2ˣ, ‘þorręnðr’ 325VII, ‘þoradr’ Bb, ‘þorendr’ Tóm, ‘þororðr’ Kˣ, ‘þorðr’ 39; konung: kóngr 972ˣ, om. Holm4, konungr 325V, Bb, Flat, 39, F, E, konungi Tóm; forðum: vǫrðum 61
Editions: Skj AI, 271-2, Skj BI, 251, Skald I, 129-30, NN §§1875, 2313, 2480G; Fms 5, 122, Fms 12, 106, ÓH 1853, 236, 300, ÓH 1941, I, 617-18 (ch. 253), Flat 1860-8, II, 371; Hkr 1777-1826, III, 10, VI, 124, Hkr 1868, 520 (MGóð ch. 9), Hkr 1893-1901, III, 16, IV, 182, ÍF 28, 14-15, Hkr 1991, II, 564 (MGóð ch. 7), F 1871, 172, E 1916, 12; Konráð Gíslason 1892, 41, 187, 232, Jón Skaptason 1983, 203, 324-5.
Context: On his way home from a pilgrimage to Rome, Sigvatr learns of the death of King Óláfr in the battle of Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad), and it affects him greatly. He speaks this stanza.
Notes: [1] Mont ‘the Alps’: Like OE Muntgeōf, the word may derive from Lat. Mon(te)s Jovis and refer to the Alps, though this is not certain. The context that Snorri provides probably implies that he understood the word this way. The eds of ÍF 28 and Hkr 1991 take ‘mont’ to be a common noun, perhaps meaning ‘mountain’, possibly in the Apennines (ÍF 28). — [2] fló ‘flew’: A sg. verb with coordinate subject (here mǫrg breið targa ok síðar brynjur ‘many a broad shield, and long mail-shirts’) is common in poetry (NS §70). — [4] of morgin; nær borgum ‘one morning; near towns’: Of morgin ‘one morning’ is construed in the present edn with stóðk ‘I stood’ (l. 1), and nær borgum ‘near towns’ with fló ‘(arrows) flew’ (l. 2). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B, followed by ÍF 28; Hkr 1991), interpreting borgum as ‘castles’, construes both phrases with stóðk, while Kock (NN §1875, followed by Olsen 1954, 192) construes them with fló ‘flew’. If the fighting described took place in the west (see Note to ll. 6, 7), nær borgum would help to make that clearer if construed with fló. — [6, 7] þenna ǫndverðan brum ‘in that early period’: An adverbial acc. sg.; brum ‘bud, point of time’ is usually n., but a m. equivalent has been assumed (e.g. LP: brumr; ÍF 28). The phrase is taken here, as in Skj B, to qualify the vas-clause referring to Sigvatr’s father Þórðr. ÍF 28 and Hkr 1991 on the other hand take ǫndverðan brum with the un(n)ði-clause about Óláfr’s lordship (also qualified by forðum ‘formerly’), and they take þenna with the clause about Þórðr, where it stands for þenna brum ‘during that period’ or þenna dag ‘that day’. The exact reference of ǫndverðan brum is difficult to determine, but ‘early in Óláfr’s career’ fits the presumed facts, since Snorri tells us (ÓH 1941, I, 81, ÍF 27, 54) that Þórðr met and became the retainer of Óláfr while the young king was on his viking expedition in the west. For this reason, Olsen (1954, 192-3) takes the description of a battle in the first helmingr to be a report of what Sigvatr had heard from his father about this expedition. — [7] vas ‘was’: Kock (NN §2313) finds this too weak a word for the metrical position, and he proposes emending to vann ‘got’, but this is unnecessary, since the word is unstressed. — [8] Þórrøðr ‘Þórðr’: Þórðr Sigvaldaskáld ‘Poet of Sigvaldi’, who served Sigvaldi jarl Strút-Haraldsson of Jómsborg, and then his brother Þorkell inn hávi ‘the Tall’, before meeting Óláfr Haraldsson (ÍF 27, 54). Although the metre demands the older, disyllabic form Þórrøðr, the aðalhending, while adequate, would be improved by the assumption of the later, monosyllabic Þórðr (CVC: Þórr B).
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