Cite as: David McDougall (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Pétrsdrápa 13’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 806-7.

Baptista* hlaut hæstan háleitr skírnarmála veg, sá er, lasta lægir, lífs greinum fremr sveina. Sýn tjár fingri frænda fystr, og iðran lysti, guð; tveir fyrðar fróðir fóru í brott með drotni. Baptista* hlaut hæstan háleitr skírnarmála veg, sá er, lasta lægir, lífs greinum fremr sveina. Sýn tjár fingri frænda fystr, og iðran lysti, guð; tveir fyrðar fróðir fóru í brott með drotni. Háleitr Baptista*, lægir lasta, sá er fremr sveina greinum lífs, hlaut hæstan veg skírnarmála. Fystr tjár sýn fingri, frænda guð, og lysti iðran; tveir fróðir fyrðar fóru í brott með drotni.

text prose order   The sublime Baptist, {oppressor of vices}, [HOLY MAN] who advances [his] disciples in the teachings of life, obtained the highest honour of baptisms. He reveals first the sight with his finger, [that] his kinsman [is] God, and he desired repentance; two wise men went away with the Lord.

notes: [5-7]: Both Finnur Jónsson and Kock emend ms. ‘syn’ to synd to provide skothending with frænda. Finnur (Skj B) translates: sin synd tilstår han først for gud og forkyndte sin anger? ‘he first confesses his sin before God and proclaimed his repentance?’. Kock (NN §1719) instead takes the ll. to mean that John revealed the sin of Peter and Andrew (synd ... frænda gen. pl.) and proclaimed their repentance before God (accepting Finnur’s emendation in Skj B of guð [l. 7] to guði). Neither of these interpretations, however, is supported by either the gospels or Pétr and neither takes account of the word fingri (l. 5). (The two disciples of John mentioned in Pétr 2/12-13 are not ‘the kinsmen’ Andrew and Peter, but Andrew and annarr er eigi [er] nefndr ‘another [man], who is not named’; cf. John I.40.) The passage undoubtedly refers to John’s affirmation of the divinity of Christ at John I.29, 36; cf. Pétr 2/6-11: ꜳ einum degi, þa er sæll Johannes baptista stoð i þeim stað, er hann veitti monnum skirn i Jordan, sa hann varn herra Jesum Kristum koma til sin, ok mællti sva til hans: ‘See her lamb guðs þat er tekr syndir af heiminum’ ‘On a certain day, when the blessed John the Baptist stood in that place where he baptized men in the Jordan, he saw our Lord Jesus Christ come to him, and he spoke thus to him: “Behold here the Lamb of God, which takes away sins from the world.”’. That John did not merely proclaim the advent of Christ with words, but pointed him out ‘with his finger’ is a commonplace found, for instance in JBapt²A 927/1-2: syndi Jesum með eiginligum fingri ... þa er hann sagði: Se her lamb guðs ‘he revealed Jesus with his own finger ... when he said: Behold here the Lamb of God’, and Andr²A 354/24-5: drottin varn ... auðsyndi með sinum fingri ‘with his finger he revealed ... our Lord’. The detail appears in the hymn Antra deserti, attributed to Paul the Deacon, which was sung at Matins on the feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist (AH 50, 120 §96, st. 7; DH 327-8 §86/2, st. iii): tu quidem mundi scelus auferentem indice prodis ‘with your forefinger you make known the one who takes away the sin of the world’. Cf. Ordo Nidr. 354/22. For further examples of the motif, see Ælfric, Catholic Homilies (Clemoes 1997, XXV.136-8, XXXVI.52-4; Godden 2000, 206 and 301). — [6]: See Note to st. 10/5. Finnur Jónsson prints fystr ... lysti (with short y), but translates the verb as if 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of lýsa (forkyndte ‘proclaimed’); Kock (Skald) prints fyrstr ... lýsti with skothending for expected aðalhending. With fystr ... lysti cf. st. 35/2: fyst ... lystir. The phrase lysti iðran ‘he desired repentance’ refers to the recurrent theme of John’s preaching (Matt. III.1-2, venit Iohannes Baptista ... dicens paenitentiam agite ‘John the Baptist comes ... saying: do penance’; cf. Matt. III.8, 11; Mark I.4; Luke III.3; Acts XIII.24, XIX.4). With the use of normally impers. lysti with ellipsis of a pronominal object, cf. again st. 35/2 and Þry 27/1 lysti at kyssa ‘desired to kiss’. Cf. perhaps st. 32/5-6 alt ... það er lysti lund, where the particle er can stand for either an acc. or a gen. object (cf. Fritzner: er 1c.β and δ). — [8]: Cf. Pétr 2/13: Þeir sneru ꜳ veg með varnum herra ‘They turned away from our Lord’; John I.37: secuti sunt Iesum ‘they followed Jesus’.

editions: Skj [Anonyme digte og vers XIV]: [B. 7]. En drape om apostlen Peder 13 (AII, 502; BII, 548); Skald II, 300, NN §1719; Kahle 1898, 81.

sources

AM 621 4° (621)

58r, 11 - 58r, 13