Anon Líkn 27VII
George S. Tate (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Líknarbraut 27’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 257-8.
Kross ‘the Cross’
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kross (noun m.; °-, dat. -i; -ar): cross, crucifix
mun ‘will’
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munu (verb): will, must
á ‘At’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
þingi ‘assembly’
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þing (noun n.; °-s; -): meeting, assembly
þjóðum ‘to the people [lit. pl.]’
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þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people
sýndr ‘be shown’
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sýna (verb): show, seem
blóði ‘blood’
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blóð (noun n.; °-s): blood
uggs ‘with terror’
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uggr (noun m.; °dat. -): fear
fyllaz ‘will be filled’
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fylla (verb): fill
þá ‘then’
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2. þá (adv.): then
allir ‘all’
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allr (adj.): all
aumir ‘wretched’
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aumr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): wretched, poor
menn ‘men’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
saumi ‘nails’
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saumr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): nail, seam
notes
[4] saumi ‘nails’: See Note to 32/1, 4.
Líta ‘look’
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líta (verb): look, see; appear
notes
[5-7] líta ... ok sjá ‘look ... and see’: Cf. Icel. homily (above), with reference to the Last Judgement, where God’s enemies will be required at siá oc at líta ‘to see and look’ toward the Lord.
seggja ‘of men’
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seggr (noun m.; °; -ir): man
sveitir ‘Hosts’
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sveit (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): host, company
[5] sveitir: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘sue[...]’ B
notes
[5] sveitir ‘hosts’: Restoration of <itir> based upon 399a-bˣ; <t> confirmed by skothending.
svipur ‘the whips’
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1. svipa (noun f.; °-u; -ur): [whips]
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
spjót ‘spear’
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spjót (noun n.; °-s; -): spear
á ‘’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
notes
[6-7] á móti sér ‘before them’: Skj B takes á móti to mean ‘at the assembly’ and sjá sér as ‘become fearful’ (cf. LP on this passage, the usage otherwise unattested). NN §1392 rightly objects to this, but construes með ‘with’ as också ‘as well’ (i.e. ‘blood as well as whips and spear’). Surely, however, með dreyra ‘with blood’ describes the condition of svipur ok spjót ‘whips and spear’.
móti ‘before’
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móti (prep.): against
notes
[6-7] á móti sér ‘before them’: Skj B takes á móti to mean ‘at the assembly’ and sjá sér as ‘become fearful’ (cf. LP on this passage, the usage otherwise unattested). NN §1392 rightly objects to this, but construes með ‘with’ as också ‘as well’ (i.e. ‘blood as well as whips and spear’). Surely, however, með dreyra ‘with blood’ describes the condition of svipur ok spjót ‘whips and spear’.
sér ‘them’
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sik (pron.; °gen. sín, dat. sér): (refl. pron.)
notes
[6-7] á móti sér ‘before them’: Skj B takes á móti to mean ‘at the assembly’ and sjá sér as ‘become fearful’ (cf. LP on this passage, the usage otherwise unattested). NN §1392 rightly objects to this, but construes með ‘with’ as också ‘as well’ (i.e. ‘blood as well as whips and spear’). Surely, however, með dreyra ‘with blood’ describes the condition of svipur ok spjót ‘whips and spear’.
notes
[5-7] líta ... ok sjá ‘look ... and see’: Cf. Icel. homily (above), with reference to the Last Judgement, where God’s enemies will be required at siá oc at líta ‘to see and look’ toward the Lord.
sjá ‘see’
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2. sjá (verb): see
notes
[5-7] líta ... ok sjá ‘look ... and see’: Cf. Icel. homily (above), with reference to the Last Judgement, where God’s enemies will be required at siá oc at líta ‘to see and look’ toward the Lord.
með ‘with’
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með (prep.): with
dreyra ‘the blood’
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dreyri (noun m.; °-a): blood
sjálfs ‘himself’
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sjalfr (adj.): self
Krists ‘of Christ’
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Kristr (noun m.; °-s/-, dat. -i; -ar): Christ
viðir ‘the trees’
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1. viðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -u/-i): wood, tree
kennings
viðir Mistar‘the trees of Mist ’
= WARRIORS
the trees of Mist → WARRIORS
notes
[8] viðir Mistar ‘the trees of Mist <valkyrie> [WARRIORS]’: Mist is a valkyrie named in Grm (NK 64; SnE 1982, 30) and Þul Ásynja 4III and Valkyrja 1III. This is the only occurrence of a mythological name in Líkn. Rhymed with Krists, and in the context of judgement, it may suggest the juxtaposition of pagan and Christian realms.
Mistar ‘of Mist’
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Mist (noun f.): Mist
kennings
viðir Mistar‘the trees of Mist ’
= WARRIORS
the trees of Mist → WARRIORS
notes
[8] viðir Mistar ‘the trees of Mist <valkyrie> [WARRIORS]’: Mist is a valkyrie named in Grm (NK 64; SnE 1982, 30) and Þul Ásynja 4III and Valkyrja 1III. This is the only occurrence of a mythological name in Líkn. Rhymed with Krists, and in the context of judgement, it may suggest the juxtaposition of pagan and Christian realms.
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The appearance of the Cross in the heavens (often with other instruments of the Passion) at the Last Judgement is an iconographic and liturgical commonplace. The response Hoc signum crucis erit in coelo cum Dominus ad judicandum venerit; tunc manifesta abscondita cordis nostri ‘This sign of the cross will be in the heaven when the Lord comes to render judgement; then will be manifest the hidden things of our heart’ recurs in the Feast of the Invention of the Cross (3 May) and in the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (14 September) (See Ordo Nidr., 339, 394, 414). The appearance of the blood-covered Cross is part of the chilling imagery of the Judgement in Has 32-3, in which the terror is so great that even the angels quake with fear and dread (ugg ok hræzlu 32/8) – a detail occurring also in the Icel. homily on All Saints (HómÍsl 1993, 21v; HómÍsl 1872, 45) and in the late medieval Rósa 124/2 (ÍM I.2, 33). The appearance of the Cross at Judgement is likewise mentioned in Píslardrápa 31/4 (ÍM I.2, 62) and Milska 67 (ÍM I.2, 53), the latter with other instruments of the Passion. These instruments, the arma Christi, are also depicted in the Islensk tegnebog (Fett 1910, pl. 4).
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