Anon (FoGT) 44^III

Trúa lofar Ábráms ævi;
Ísách lofar vísan
ván; lofar Jácób* einum
ástsemd hugarfremdum.
Skýrr lofar Jóséphs ævi
órskurðr fyrirburða;
guðs lofar ætt og ævi
Áróns göfug þjónan.

Trúa lofar ævi Ábráms; ván lofar vísan Ísách; ástsemd lofar Jácób* einum hugarfremdum. Skýrr órskurðr fyrirburða lofar ævi Jóséphs; göfug þjónan guðs lofar ætt og ævi Áróns.

Faith praises Abraham’s life; hope praises wise Isaac; love praises Jacob for singular excellences of mind. A clear interpretation of omens praises the life of Joseph; the worthy service of God praises the kin and the life of Aaron.

Mss: W(119) (FoGT)

Readings: [3] Jácób*: Jácóbs W

Editions: Skj AII, 167, Skj BII, 184-5, Skald II, 96; SnE 1848-87, II, 246-7, III, 162-3, FoGT 1884, 150, 294, FoGT 2004, 56-7, 80, 159-61, FoGT 2014, 46-7, 139-42.

Notes: [All]: Stanza 44 continues the theme of st. 43, praise for the virtues of Old Testament characters. Whereas those celebrated in st. 43 all come from the earlier chapters of Genesis, the first four mentioned in st. 44 come from this book’s later chapters: Abraham, his son Isaac, Jacob, son of Isaac, and Joseph, son of Jacob. The story of Aaron, brother of Moses, comes in Exodus, and looks forward to st. 45. Abraham is associated with faith because of his obedience to God, who required him to sacrifice his son Isaac; the latter symbolises hope, as the physical sacrifice was averted. The reference to ástsemd ‘love’ in l. 4 in connection with Jacob may allude to Jacob’s love for Rachel (Gen. XXVIII.15-30) and his working for her father for four years before he was able to obtain her for his wife. The reference to Joseph is clearly to his exile in Egypt and his ability to interpret prophetic dreams, principally those of the Egyptian Pharaoh, while the lines on Aaron allude to his role as the first high priest of the Hebrews, nicely balancing the reference to Shem in st. 43/7-8. — [3] Jácób* ‘Jacob’: Ms. W places a stop after vísan (l. 2) and reads ván … Jácóbs in l. 3. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B, followed here) deleted the final <s> (gen. sg.) of Jácóbs to give an acc. sg. object of lofar ‘praises’ and brought this clause into line with others in the stanza. Alternatively, Björn Magnússon Ólsen (FoGT 1884, 294 and n. 2) kept the ms. reading Jácóbs, but emended lofar to lofaz ‘is praised’ (on the model of the m. v. in st. 43/5), reading Ástsemð Jakobs lofast einum hugar fremðum, which he paraphrased as På grund af Jakobs udmærkede sjælelige egenskaber priser man hans kærlighed ‘On the basis of Jacob’s remarkable spiritual qualities one praises his love’.

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. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. FoGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
6. FoGT 2004 = Longo, Michele, ed. [2004]. ‘Il Quarto Trattato Grammaticale Islandese: Testo, Traduzione e Commento’. Dottorato di Ricerca in ‘Linguistica Sincronica e Diacronica’ (XV Ciclo). Palermo: Università degli Studi di Palermo, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia.
7. FoGT 2014 = Clunies Ross, Margaret and Jonas Wellendorf, eds. 2014. The Fourth Grammatical Treatise. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.