Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 30’ 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. 736.
Ástríði lát œðri,
Alfhildr, an þik sjalfa,
þér þótt þinn hagr stórum
— þat vildi goð — batni.
Alfhildr, lát Ástríði œðri an þik sjalfa, þótt hagr þinn batni þér stórum; goð vildi þat.
Álfhildr, set Ástríðr higher than yourself, though your position is improving for you greatly; God willed it.
Mss: Kˣ(500v), 39(13va-b), F(38rb), J2ˣ(243r), E(4v) (Hkr); 761bˣ(311v)
Readings: [2] ‑hildr: ‑hildi E [3] þér þótt: þér 39, om. F; hagr: hagr hefir F [4] batni: batnat F
Editions: Skj AI, 275, Skj BI, 254, Skald I, 131; Hkr 1777-1826, III, 14, VI, 127, Hkr 1868, 522 (MGóð ch. 10), Hkr 1893-1901, III, 21, IV, 186, ÍF 28, 20, Hkr 1991, 568 (MGóð ch. 9), F 1871, 174, E 1916, 13; Konráð Gíslason 1892, 42, 192-3, Jón Skaptason 1983, 214, 330.
Context: As for Lv 29. In Norway, after Queen Ástríðr and Álfhildr, the queen mother, have an exchange of words, Sigvatr speaks this helmingr.
Notes: [1] Ástríði ‘Ástríðr’: A daughter of the Swedish King Óláfr and stepmother of Magnús Óláfsson through her marriage to King Óláfr Haraldsson of Norway; see, e.g., Fsk (ÍF 29, 179) and Hkr (ÍF 27, 146). She promoted Magnús’s interests and is the subject of a poem by Sigvatr (Sigv Ást). See also Note to Lv 28 [All]. — [2] Alfhildr ‘Álfhildr’: Mother of Magnús Óláfsson. According to Hkr (ÍF 27, 209), she was known as konungs ambôtt ‘the king’s servant or concubine’, though of good family, and belonged to King Óláfr’s household. The tension between Álfhildr and Queen Ástríðr once Álfhildr arrives at Magnús’s court is described in Hkr (ÍF 28, 14). — [3] þér ‘for you’: Konráð Gíslason (1892) explains the word, which might otherwise seem pleonastic, as an intensifier, signifying Sigvatr’s warning to Álfhildr that the improvement in her circumstances (since she is now mother to a king) should be matched by an improvement in her attitude. — [4] goð vildi þat ‘God willed it’: The verb vildi may instead be subjunctive, producing the sense ‘God would wish it’, as observed by Jón Skaptason (1983, 214).
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