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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Note to Anon Mgr 9VII

[3] dróttins (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the lord’: Dróttinn (m. nom. sg.) ‘lord’ (‘drotten’ 713) can only be construed as a form of address, which makes no sense in the present context. The kenning brúðrinn dróttins sætis dægra ‘the bride of the lord of the seat of days and nights’ (i.e. Mary) (ll. 2, 3, 4) is mirrored in the next helmingr: móðir siklings sunnu grundar ‘the mother of the ruler of the sun’s land’ [SKY/HEAVEN > = God (= Christ) > = Mary] (ll. 5-6). The emendation follows Skj B and Skald. Wrightson suggests dróttin (m. acc. sg.) ‘the lord’ as a parallel to munka gæti ‘the guardian of monks’ (i.e. Augustine) in l. 4. According to that interpretation, sætis dægra ‘of the seat of days and nights’ (i.e. ‘of heaven’, l. 4) functions as a determinant in a kenning for Mary with drotning ‘queen’ (l. 2) as the base-word. However, it is implausible that dróttinn ‘lord’ should be used to designate Augustine.

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
  3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.

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