Cite as: Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Máríuvísur III 20’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 730-1.

‘Rangir váttar ráð þung * rísa upp og gjöra víst; lygi flytr reift róg, rennr sú er með flærð enn.

Minnaz rieð á miskunn maðr sá,’ að frúin kvað, ‘að sönnu las hann Síóns síðast á lífstíð.’

‘Rangir váttar * rísa upp og gjöra víst þung ráð; lygi, sú er enn rennr með flærð, flytr reift róg. Sá maðr rieð minnaz á miskunn,’ kvað frúin að, ‘að sönnu las hann Síóns síðast á lífstíð.’

‘False witnesses rise up and certainly create grave conditions; a lie, which still runs around with destruction, spreads intentional slander. That man did remember mercy,’ said the lady, ‘truly, he read [the prayer] of Zion in the last moment of [lit. latest in] his lifetime.’

Mss: 721(16r-v), 1032ˣ(151v-152v)

Readings: [2] * rísa: er rísa 721;    víst: slíkt 721    [4] rennr: renni 721    [7] Síóns: so 1032ˣ, ‘s[...]’ 721, ‘syons’ 721FJ    [8] ‑tíð (‘ṭị́ḍ’): so 1032ˣ, ‘[...]’ 721

Editions: Skj: [Anonyme digte og vers XIV], [B. 6]. Et digt om et tredje Maria-jærtegn 20: AII, 499, BII, 542-3, Skald II, 297, NN §§1698C, 1703, Metr. §16A; Kahle 1898, 47, 101, Sperber 1911, 19, 67-8, Wrightson 2001, 76.

Notes: [1-2]: The reading cannot be restored with any certainty, but the first cl. paraphrases Ps. XXXIV.11: Surgentes testes iniqui quae nesciebam interrogabant me ‘Unjust witnesses rising up have asked me things I knew not’. The corresponding place in Mar (1871, 607) reads: Ranglatir uottar risa upp i moti mier, ok illzkan er liugandi til aukningar sialfri sier ‘False witnesses rise up against me, and evil is lying to the augmentation of itself’. Sperber compares this place to Ps. XXVI.12: Quoniam surrexerunt contra me testes falsi et apertum mendacium ‘For unjust witnesses have risen up against me, and iniquity hath lied to itself’. — [2] * rísa upp ‘rise up’: The mss read er rísa upp ‘who rise up’ which is unmetrical (one syllable too many) and makes little sense in terms of syntax (‘false witnesses who rise up and …’). Skj B and Skald emend rísa upp ‘rise up’ to reisa upp ‘instigate’ with þung ráð ‘grave conditions’ (l. 1) as the object (‘false witnesses instigate oppressive conditions’). — [2] víst (adv.) ‘certainly’: (So also Sperber). This reading is conjectural. Ms. 721 reads slíkt ‘such’ which leaves the l. without internal rhyme and appears to be a repetition of slíkt ‘like this’ in st. 19/8 above. Skj B gives no reading (‘…’), and Skald suggests neist (adj., n. acc. sg.) ‘shameful’ to rhyme with the emended reisa ‘instigate’. Wrightson retains slíkt ‘such’ and connects it with reift róg which is translated as ‘this slander in a lively way’. — [3] reift (n. acc. sg.) ‘intentional’: For this meaning, see LP: reifa 2. — [4] rennr (3rd pers. sg. pres. indic.) ‘runs’: Ms. renni (3rd pers. sg. or pl. pres. subj.) ‘may run’ is ungrammatical. — [6] kvað að (3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘said’: Kveða að is a verb-adv. collocation meaning ‘say, utter’. — [7] Síóns ‘[the prayer] of Zion’: (i.e. Hail Mary). This word is no longer visible in 721, but Finnur read ‘syons’ with certainty. 1032ˣ has ‘sions’ but the way it is written suggests that ÁM had problems reading what he perceived as <i>. In medieval literature, Mary was often referred to as ‘the new Zion’, ‘the daughter of Zion’, etc. See Salzer (1886-93, 32, 118 n. 3, 121 n. 3, 346, 443 n. 1). — [8] lífstíð ‘lifetime’: Neither ms. provides unequivocal evidence of -tið, but it is almost certainly the correct reading, as it forms a rhyme with sið-.