Austrfararvísur (‘verses of an eastern journey’) is a skaldic poem composed by the Icelandic skald Sigvatr Þórðarson c. 1019. It is written in the meter dróttkvætt (‘courtly spoken’).

Historical context

Sigvat was a court poet and trusted advisor of King Olaf Haraldson of Norway. He was sent with a diplomatic delegation to the court of King Olof of Sweden. The delegation was successful. Reconciliation was achieved between the two kings, sealed with engagement between Olaf II and the Swedish princess Astrid Olofsdotter of Sweden.

Content

Austrfararvísur contains a humorous and sarcastic description of Sigvat's arduous journey to Svíþjóð, modern eastern Sweden. In one particularly memorable sequence, he describes how the men passed though Eidskogen into Västergötland, and reached a farm named Hof (for its identity see Fulk 2012, p. 589). The door was barred, and the people inside hostile; due to being Christian, Sigvat and his retinue were not welcome. According to the prose context and alluded to in the poem, Sigvat went on to ask for lodging at two other homesteads, but were likewise refused at each. The relevant verses (4-6) from the poem in Fulk's edition (pp. 589-592):

Editions and translations

Other sources