Sigv Berv 9II/1 — Skulut ‘must not’
Skulut ráðgjafar reiðask
(ryðr þat, konungr) yðrir
(dróttins orð til dýrðar)
dǫglingr, við bersǫgli.
Hafa kveðask lǫg, nema ljúgi
landherr, búendr verri
endr í Ulfasundum
ǫnnur, an þú hézt mǫnnum.
Dǫglingr, ráðgjafar yðrir skulut reiðask við bersǫgli; þat orð dróttins ryðr til dýrðar, konungr. Búendr kveðask hafa ǫnnur verri lǫg, nema landherr ljúgi, an þú hézt mǫnnum endr í Ulfasundum.
Lord, your counsellors must not get enraged at my plain-speaking; that royal command will open the way for glory, king. The farmers claim they have other, inferior laws, unless the countrymen lie, than you promised people earlier in Ulvesundet.
readings
notes
[1, 2] ráðgjafar yðrir skulut reiðask ‘your counsellors must not get enraged’: Skulut reiðask ráðgjǫfum yðrum ‘you should not get enraged at your counsellors’ (so Kˣ, 39) is syntactically correct but goes against the majority ms. witnesses (so also Skald). Moreover, Sigvatr is speaking against the king’s counsellors on behalf of the farmers (see also the prose in H-Hr). Skj B follows the Kˣ version but emends skulut (2nd pers. pl.) (l. 1) to skalat (3rd pers. sg.) ‘one should not’.
grammar
Verbs: Preterite-present verbs
The present tense of these verbs is like the past tense of strong verbs, and their past tense is weak.
| eiga | mega | kunna | skulu | munu | muna | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indic. pres. | sing. pl. | 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd | á átt á eigum eiguð eigu | má mátt má megum meguð megu | kann kannt kann kunnum kunnuð kunnu | skal skalt skal skulum skuluð skulu | mun munt mun munum munuð munu | man mant man munum munið muna |
| indic. past stem subj. pres. stem subj. past stem | átt- eig- ætt- | mátt- meg- mætt- | kunn- kunn- kynn- | skyld- skyl- skyld- | mund- myn- mynd- | mund- mun- mynd- | ||