George S. Tate (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Líknarbraut 22’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 252-3.
Kvaliðr sté öllum æðri
ítr gramr til helvítis
dægra láðs ept dauða
djöfla rann at kanna.
Leysti sinn at sönnu
sólhallar gramr allan
lýð fyr lífstré þjóðar
líknarstyrkr frá myrkrum.
{Kvaliðr ítr gramr {dægra láðs}}, öllum æðri, sté ept dauða til helvítis at kanna {rann djöfla}. {Líknarstyrkr gramr {sólhallar}} leysti at sönnu allan sinn lýð frá myrkrum fyr {lífstré þjóðar}.
‘The tormented glorious king of days’ land [SKY/HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)], higher than all, descended after death to Hell to explore the house of devils [HELL]. The mercy-strong king of sun’s hall [SKY/HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)] freed truly all his people from darkness by means of the life-tree of mankind [CROSS].’
A frequent motif in representations of the Harrowing of Hell is that of light – associated here with Christ through sól ‘sun’ (l. 6) and perhaps dægra láð ‘days’ land’ (l. 3) in the kennings – penetrating the darkness (myrkrum, dat. pl., l. 8) as it moves from the highest realm to the lowest. See, e.g., Niðrst1 I.7: Cristr ferr her nu oc rekr a braut meþ liose guþdoms sins dauþa myrcr... ‘Now Christ goes here and dispels the darkness of death with the light of his godhead...’ (Hms II, 6).
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Kvaliðr sté †o᷎ll[...] ed[...]†
ítr gramr til helvítis
dægra láðs ept dauða
djöfla rann at kanna.
Leysti sinn †[...]t s[...]nnu†
†[...]hallar† gramr allan
lýð fyr lífstré þjóðar
líknarstyrkr frá myrkrum.
Kualidr ste o᷎ll[...] ed[...] itr | gramr til heluítiss de᷎gra lads efter dauda dio᷎fla rann at kanna leýste sínn [...]t s[...]nnu [...]hallar | gramr allan lýd fir lífstre þíodar liknar stýrkr fra myrkrum.
(GST)
Kvaliðr sté †öll[...]†
ítr gramr til helvítis
dægra láðs ept dauða
djöfla rann at kanna.
Leysti sinn †at sẹ⸜o᷎⸝nnu†
†s[...]hallar† gramr allan
lýð fyr lífstré þjóðar
líknarstyrkr frá myrkrum.
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], C. 1. Líknarbraut 22: AII, 154, BII, 166, Skald II, 88, NN §30; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 42, Rydberg 1907, 15, 50, Tate 1974, 67.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.