Note to Anon Lil 1^VII

[All]: Cf. the ON Eluc: Iollom stoþom. segesc Goþ allr vesa. þuiat hann es iammottogr íollom stoþom slict íhelvite sem íhiminriki. Allr saman segesc hann vesa þuiat hann stýrer ollom senn íaustre oc ivestre. Of valt segesc hann vesa íollom stoþom. þuiat hann stvrer ollo iamt áhverre tiþ. Iengom staþ segesc hann vesa. þuiat hann es ólicamlegr oc ma eige licamlegr staþr halda á Goþe. enn hann heldr samann ollom hlutom oc livom ver ihonom oc erom ‘God is said to be One in all places at once because He is equally powerful everywhere, in hell as well as in heaven. He is said to be One because He rules everything at once in the East and in the West. He is said to be in all places always because He rules over everything at the same time. He is said to be in no particular place because He has no physical body, and no physical place can comprehend God. He holds together the whole universe and in Him we live and have our being’ (Eluc 1992, 4-7). Cf. also the ON translation of the Dialogues of Gregory the Great: Gvþ er allr i ollom ſtoþom ſen ‘God is all in all places at once’ (Þorvaldur Bjarnarson 1878, 65). Paasche (1915, 36) says of this st.: ‘God is apart from time and place; he lives in his own “powerful peace”; he is the centre of all things and fills all depths and reaches all heights. He is at once outside and within all things. He is without time or place, he stands still ... he is here, he is there, he is far, he is near, he is deep, he is high’. He suggests that the model may have been Alpha et O, magne Deus, the popular hymn on the Trinity by Hildebert of Lavardin (Scott 2001, 46-7; AH 50, 409; see also Paasche 1948, 238 and Schottmann 1973, 195). The st. celebrates the eternal Trinity, which is paradoxically both transcendent and immanent.

References

1. Bibliography
2. AH = Dreves, G. M., C. Blume and H. M. Bannister, eds. 1886-1922. Analecta hymnica medii aeui. 55 vols. Leipzig: Reisland. Rpt. 1961. New York: Johnson.
3. Eluc 1992 = Firchow, Evelyn S., ed. and trans. 1992. The Old Norse Elucidarius: Original Text and English Translation. Medieval Texts and Translations: Studies in German Literature, Linguistics and Culture. Columbia, SC.: Camden House.
4. Schottmann, Hans. 1973. Die isländische Mariendichtung. Untersuchungen zur volkssprachigen Mariendichtung des Mittelalters. Münchner germanistische Beiträge 9. Munich: Fink.
5. Scott, Brian, ed. 2001. [Hildebert of Lavardin] Hildebertus Cenomannensis Episcopus Carmina Minora. Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana. 2nd edn. Munich: Saur.
6. Þorvaldur Bjarnarson, ed. 1878. Leifar fornra kristinna fræða íslenzkra: Codex AM 677 4to auk annara enna elztu brota af íslenzkum guðfræðisritum. Copenhagen: Hagerup.
7. Eluc = Elucidarius.
8. Paasche, Fredrik. 1948. Hedenskap og kristendom: Studier i norrøn middelalder. Oslo: Aschehoug.