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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Note to Anon Líkn 36VII

[8] alsetrs vera ‘of the common seat of men [EARTH]’: Skj B separates and emends the prefix to alls, assigning the adj. to the intercalary clause to modify ófs (i.e., ‘the just weight of all pride’), but the al- prefix means simply ‘general, common’ as in alþingi ‘general assembly’. Alsetrs vera, a kenning for ‘of the whole world’ (NN §1396); cf. Meissner, 87, based on Skj B: vera setr as earth-kenning, i.e. ‘the earth as dwelling place of mankind’. The sense here is probably more ‘world’ (saeculum with its moral implications), than ‘earth’ per se; it is not physical creation that is weighed in the balance of the Cross.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  4. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.

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