Note to Anon Heildr 13^VII

[5-8]: This helmingr is difficult. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), while indicating his uncertainty, interpreted the four ll. thus.: rausnar-ríkr andi, fyrirtígnari fǫður kverkr, prýðir líkast ræður, fegnar þér, meginverkum ‘spirit powerful in magnificence, honourer of the Father’s throat (speech), ornaments in the best way the speeches, you rejoice in, with mighty works’. Aside from the considerable syntactic fragmentation this involves, there are problems of sense. Taking kverkr, gen. sg. of kverk, f. ‘throat’ with fǫður gen., to form the epithet fyrirtígnari fǫður kverkr ‘honourer of the father’s throat’ i.e. ‘honourer of the father’s word’ for the Holy Spirit runs contrary to the Lat. text, which indicates that the helmingr should refer to the Holy Spirit’s endowing the throats of human beings with speech. A reading that is much simpler syntactically, but which involves emending B’s ‘likaz’ (l. 6) to líkastr, sup. adj. m. nom. sg., to agree with andi, is provided by Kock (NN §2340 and Skald): here ll. 5-6 and 7-8 form two separate main clauses. The present edn retains B’s líkaz and emends fegnar (l. 7) to fegra* ‘to embellish, beautify’. This gives a close parallel to the Lat. sermone ditans guttura ‘enriching throats with speech’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.