Cite as: Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Máríudrápa 17’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 492-4.

Fagnaðu, mær af megni miskunnar fullrunnin; dýr, gaztu orð af orði, orð guðs og bart* forðum. Fagnaðu, jörð, því að orðin alfrjávuð* fekkt hávan lífs ávöxt og leyfðan leyndardóma blóma. Fagnaðu, mær af megni miskunnar fullrunnin; dýr, gaztu orð af orði, orð guðs og bart* forðum. Fagnaðu, jörð, því að orðin alfrjávuð* fekkt hávan lífs ávöxt og leyfðan leyndardóma blóma. Fagnaðu, mær, fullrunnin af megni miskunnar; dýr, gaztu orð af orði, og bart* forðum orð guðs. Fagnaðu, jörð, því að orðin alfrjávuð* fekkt hávan ávöxt lífs og leyfðan blóma leyndardóma.

text prose order   Rejoice, maiden, overflowing with the power of mercy; precious one, you conceived the word from the word, and once bore {the word of God}. [= Christ] Rejoice, earth, since, grown fully ripe, you received {the high fruit of life} [= Christ] and {the praised flower of mysteries}. [= Christ]

notes: Here begins the poet’s rendition of the antiphon Gaude virgo gratiosa ‘Rejoice, virgin full of grace’ (AH 9, 54, no. 66; Schottmann 1973, 519) which extends to st. 19. Lines 1-2 render the first l. of the Lat. hymn. B is illegible in many places, so the readings of previous transcribers, notably the 399a-bˣ transcriber and Rydberg, have been drawn on to reconstruct the text. — [3-4]: These ll. are difficult and the ms. readings uncertain in several places. However, they should correspond to the 2nd l. of the Lat. hymn, verbum verbo concepisti ‘you conceived the word from the word’. This can be achieved with a small number of emendations, viz., orð (l. 3) and orð again (l. 4), while accepting 399a-bˣ’s readings orði (l. 3) and forðum (l. 4). B’s ‘barth’ (l. 4) is understood as the 2nd pers. sg. pret. of bera ‘to bear’. Finnur Jónsson offers no interpretation of ll. 3-4, and reproduces only those words which are clearly legible in B. Kock (Skald) conjectures dýr gazt oss af ærnu | óð guðs ok bæn fróða ‘glorious, you have provided us amply with song and wise prayer to God’, which makes sense, but bears little relation to what of the text is preserved. It is clear from sts 19 and 20, which are concerned with the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the Coronation of the Virgin, that st. 17 is the first part of an evocation of the five joys of Mary. This st. should therefore deal with the Annunciation and the Nativity. — [5-8]: Compare ll. 3-4 of the hymn Gaude virgo gratiosa: Gaude, tellus fructuosa, / fructum vitae protulisti ‘Rejoice, fruitful earth, you bore the fruit of life’.

editions: Skj [Anonyme digte og vers XIV]: [B. 1]. En drape om jomfru Maria (Máríudrápa) 17 (AII, 467; BII, 500); Skald II, 273, NN §§1642, 1643, 2675; Rydberg 1907, 35, 55, Attwood 1996a, 106, 307.

sources

AM 757 a 4° (B)	13v, 49 - 14r, 1	(Mdr)
JS 399 a-b 4°x (399a-bx)	-
Lbs 444 4°x (444x)	-
AM 757 a 4° (BRydberg)	-
AM 757 a 4° (BFJ)	-