Cite as: Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Brúðkaupsvísur 26’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 548.

‘Haltu, sem hefir mælt, hvert orð, meðan lífs ert, hirðir’, kvað happ-Njörðr, ‘hringa, við dróttning. Betri mun þier vera vitr — víst hyggjum það — Krist — ástin hennar má mest — móðir en hvert fljóð.’ ‘Haltu, sem hefir mælt, hvert orð, meðan lífs ert, hirðir’, kvað happ-Njörðr, ‘hringa, við dróttning. Betri mun þier vera vitr — víst hyggjum það — Krist — ástin hennar má mest — móðir en hvert fljóð.’ ‘Haltu hvert orð, sem hefir mælt við dróttning, meðan ert lífs, hirðir hringa’, kvað happ-Njörðr. ‘Vitr móðir Krist mun vera þier betri en hvert fljóð; ástin hennar má mest; hyggjum það víst.’

text prose order   ‘Keep every word that you have said to the queen while you are alive, {keeper of rings}’ [MAN] said {the luck-Njörðr}. [MAN] ‘{The wise mother of Christ} [= Mary] will be kinder towards you than any woman; her love may achieve the most; we think that for certain.’

notes: Although the young man’s wedding party were presumably expecting the bishop to support them (st. 24), he evidently supports the young man’s devotion to the Virgin, even though he has denounced him as fickle (st. 25/3-4). The reason is not clear from the poem, but the D-version of the prose text explains that the young man is able to demonstrate to the bishop that he had betrothed himself to the Virgin Mary before he was betrothed to his human fiancée, even though his family did not know of his secret vow (Mar 1871, 120). The bishop then agrees that he should keep his original promise (heit) to Mary and live a chaste life.

editions: Skj Not in Skj; ÍM II, 134.

sources

AM 721 4° (721)	15r, 1 - 15r, 2
AM 1032 4°x (1032x)	108v, 14 - 109v, 4
JS 399 a-b 4°x (399a-bx)	11, 2 - 11, 9
Lbs 2166 4°x (2166x)	11, 1 - 11, 8