Note to Anon Líkn 8VII
[7] náð ‘grace’: B, 399a-bˣ nauð. Sveinbjörn Egilsson emends to náð ‘grace’, adopted by Rydberg and here. Salvaging ms. nauð ‘need’ would require a stretched meaning of heita – ‘useful is he (i.e. the poet) who names (i.e. points out)/promises need’ – but this is not very satisfactory. Skj B (followed by Skald), having emended ms. nauð sem to nauðsyn ‘necessity’ construes er nauðsyn heitir to mean ‘as necessity demands’, but no ON dictionary gives ‘demand’ as a meaning for heita. (Despite this emendation in Skj B, LP under nýtr has nýtr es nð sem heitir, i.e., as here, ‘useful, potent is he who promises grace’.) In its theological sense, náð ‘grace’ (otherwise ‘rest, peace’, both of which could also work here) appears rather late in Icel. CVC dates it to C14th, but Fritzner gives some C13th instances. If the emendation is correct, this would be the earliest such use in poetry; cf. Anon Lil 12/4, Kálf Kátr 48/6, EGils Guðkv 28/7IV, Árni Gd 41/4IV, and Anon Vitn 14/4 (nýtar náðir).
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.
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
- Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
- Internal references
- Kirsten Wolf (ed.) 2007, ‘Kálfr Hallsson, Kátrínardrápa 48’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 961.
- Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Vitnisvísur af Máríu 14’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 749-50.
- Not published: do not cite (Árni Gd 41IV)
- Not published: do not cite (EGils Guðkv 28IV)
- Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 12’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 575-7.