Note to Anon Mgr 1VII
[7] lágina (f. acc. sg.) ‘the log’: The ms. reading ‘lo᷎ginn’ can only be rendered as lögin (n. acc. pl.) ‘the laws’ (so Skj B), which makes the l. hypometrical (two short syllables cannot occupy a stressed and an unstressed position in metrical positions 5-6 in liljulag). Furthermore, it is not clear why the poet would want divine laws to inspire his creation. Skald emends to lágina (f. acc. sg.) ‘the log’ (see NN §1665), which is metrically correct and makes sense in the present context (see eini ‘juniper’ and viðr ‘wood’ in ll. 5, 6): the poet asks that an eternal fire of divine inspiration be kindled in his breast. Wrightson supplies loginn ‘the flame’. According to that interpretation, ‘the flame of the lord of lightnings’ shrine’ is a kenning for the Holy Ghost, but loginn (m. nom. sg.) ‘the flame’ is ungrammatical because the acc. inf. construction requires the acc. logann and the l. is still unmetrical.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.