Hjálm Lv 11VIII (Ǫrv 21)/8 — Sigtúnum ‘Sigtuna’
Fregna eigi þat á fold konur,
at ek fyr höggum hlífaz léta.
Hlær eigi at því, at ek hlíða gerðak,
snót svinnhuguð Sigtúnum í.
Konur á fold fregna eigi þat, at ek léta hlífaz fyr höggum. Svinnhuguð snót í Sigtúnum hlær eigi at því, at ek gerðak hlíða.
Women in the land will not hear tell that I allowed myself to be spared from blows. The quick-thinking lady in Sigtuna will not deride me because I gave ground.
readings
[8] Sigtúnum í: so 343a, 173ˣ, ‘sigradan spyrie’ written over erasure in another hand 344a, ‘siotunum i’ 471
notes
[8] í Sigtúnum ‘in Sigtuna’: Sigtúnir (f. pl.) or Sigtún (sg.) is mentioned in several skaldic poems from the C11th, including Arn Magndr 2/8II, ÞjóðA Magnfl 2/8II and Valg Har 5/8II, mostly in connection with royal sea-journeys, and again in Ǫrv 24/2 and 119/7. Sigtuna, founded c. 980 on the shore of Lake Mälaren, and at the beginning of the waterway leading to Uppsala, was a market town probably managed by a royal official. The neighbouring place to the west, that Yng claims was called fornu Sigtúnir ‘Ancient Sigtúnir’, may have been a royal residence during the Iron Age and early Viking Age (Ros 2008). In Yng ch. 5 (ÍF 26, 16) it is stated that Óðinn took up residence there after the Æsir’s migration to Sweden from Troy.