Note to Anon (FoGT) 32III
[1-4]: The sense and syntactic arrangement of the words in the first helmingr have been the subject of some editorial differences. It is assumed here, with Björn Magnússon Ólsen (FoGT 1884, 282) and Longo (FoGT 2004, 142-3 and 210-11), that the first helmingr represents the Biblical King and Psalmist David as a penitent sinner, who died and spent time in the grave as a punishment for his sins before being released at the Last Judgement. The second helmingr is then represented in direct speech as what he sang from the grave in praise of God’s righteousness. For the common medieval representation of David as a type of the penitent sinner, see Gamlkan Has 48-9VII and Notes to those stanzas.
References
- Bibliography
- FoGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
- FoGT 2004 = Longo, Michele, ed. [2004]. ‘Il Quarto Trattato Grammaticale Islandese: Testo, Traduzione e Commento’. Dottorato di Ricerca in ‘Linguistica Sincronica e Diacronica’ (XV Ciclo). Palermo: Università degli Studi di Palermo, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia.
- Internal references
- Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 48’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 115.