Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Vitnisvísur af Máríu 3’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 742.
Rieð í ríki góðu
— ritning berr svá vitni —
kóngr, sá átti unga,
óttlauss, framadóttur.
Fæðiz upp með Fríði
falds á bernskualdri
svinnr í sögðu ríki
sveinn af kynslóð hreinni.
Óttlauss kóngr, sá átti unga framadóttur, rieð í góðu ríki; ritning berr svá vitni. Svinnr sveinn af hreinni kynslóð fæðiz upp á bernskualdri með {Fríði falds} í sögðu ríki.
A fearless king who had a young, outstanding daughter, ruled in a good realm; writing bears witness to that. A clever boy of pure lineage grows up in childhood with {the Fríðr <goddess> of the head-dress} [WOMAN] in the said realm.
Mss: 713(83), 721(10v)
Readings: [3] kóngr: ‘k̄gur’ 713, 721 [5] Fæðiz: fæddisk 713, 721; Fríði: so 721, fríðri 713 [8] af: om. 721
Editions: Skj AII, 483, Skj BII, 520, Skald II, 285; Kahle 1898, 50, Sperber 1911, 23, 70, Wrightson 2001, 28.
Notes: [2] ritning ‘writing’: The poet’s source was likely a written text about Mary’s miracles (see Introduction above). — [3] kóngr ‘king’: This noun is abbreviated ‘k̄gur’ in both mss. Skj A, Sperber and Wrightson resolve it as kóngr ‘king’ (Skald has konungr). Kóngr seems warranted because of the internal rhyme (-óng- : -ung-; but see st. 4/4 below). For the contracted form, see ANG §125.4. — [5] fæðiz ‘grows [up]’: Both mss read fæddiz (3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘grew up’, but the pres. tense of the verb (fæðiz) is required by the internal rhyme (-æð- : -íð-). — [7]: The l. lacks internal rhyme. Wrightson tentatively reads ríki ‘realm’ in 721 as ranni ‘house’ (so also Sperber, but, although it is smudged, the abbreviation stands for <ik> (and 713 has ríki without abbreviation). Furthermore, there is no mention of a house in the preceding text.
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