Anon Sól 39VII
Carolyne Larrington and Peter Robinson (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Sólarljóð 39’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 322-3.
Sól ‘the sun’
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sól (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ir): sun
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
sá ‘saw’
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2. sjá (verb): see
samað ‘’
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2. sama (verb): befit
sanna ‘the true’
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2. sannr (adj.; °-an; compar. -ari, superl. -astr): true
[2] sanna dagstjörnu: samað at stjörnu 738ˣ
notes
[2] sanna dagstjörnu ‘true day-star’: cf. Rev. XXII.16: stella splendida et matitutina ‘the bright and morning star’. Lange 1958a, 188, 243-5 discusses the possibility of sun-worship among early Icel. settlers; see also Amory 1985, 5-8; 1990, 255-6 for extensive discussion of the sol salutis ‘the sun of salvation’ and the sol iustitiae ‘the sun of justice’ in Carolingian and later theology.
at ‘’
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5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
dag ‘day’
[2] sanna dagstjörnu: samað at stjörnu 738ˣ
notes
[2] sanna dagstjörnu ‘true day-star’: cf. Rev. XXII.16: stella splendida et matitutina ‘the bright and morning star’. Lange 1958a, 188, 243-5 discusses the possibility of sun-worship among early Icel. settlers; see also Amory 1985, 5-8; 1990, 255-6 for extensive discussion of the sol salutis ‘the sun of salvation’ and the sol iustitiae ‘the sun of justice’ in Carolingian and later theology.
stjörnu ‘star’
[2] sanna dagstjörnu: samað at stjörnu 738ˣ
notes
[2] sanna dagstjörnu ‘true day-star’: cf. Rev. XXII.16: stella splendida et matitutina ‘the bright and morning star’. Lange 1958a, 188, 243-5 discusses the possibility of sun-worship among early Icel. settlers; see also Amory 1985, 5-8; 1990, 255-6 for extensive discussion of the sol salutis ‘the sun of salvation’ and the sol iustitiae ‘the sun of justice’ in Carolingian and later theology.
drúpa ‘’
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drúpa (verb; °-pð-): droop
dyn ‘the noisy’
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dynr (noun m.; °dat. -; -ir): din < dynheimr (noun m.)
[3] dynheimum í: so 738ˣ, 1441ˣ, 10575ˣ, 2797ˣ, ‘dimheimuṁ i’ or ‘dinheimum i’ 166bˣ, ‘dyrheimum i’ papp15ˣ, ‘i dynheimum’ 214ˣ
notes
[3] dynheimum (dat. pl.) ‘noisy world’: As in 738ˣ, and a large number of other mss, pl. is taken for sg. here. 166bˣ’s common mark of abbreviation could be read as giving din- (dyn- ‘noise’) or dim- (dimm- ‘dark’) heimum ‘dark world’, and both are plausible readings in context. Falk, Skj B and Skald have dynheimum. Dýrheimum ‘precious world’, found in papp15ˣ and 7 other mss is also an attractive reading.
heimum ‘world’
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heimr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): home, abode; world < dynheimr (noun m.)
[3] dynheimum í: so 738ˣ, 1441ˣ, 10575ˣ, 2797ˣ, ‘dimheimuṁ i’ or ‘dinheimum i’ 166bˣ, ‘dyrheimum i’ papp15ˣ, ‘i dynheimum’ 214ˣ
notes
[3] dynheimum (dat. pl.) ‘noisy world’: As in 738ˣ, and a large number of other mss, pl. is taken for sg. here. 166bˣ’s common mark of abbreviation could be read as giving din- (dyn- ‘noise’) or dim- (dimm- ‘dark’) heimum ‘dark world’, and both are plausible readings in context. Falk, Skj B and Skald have dynheimum. Dýrheimum ‘precious world’, found in papp15ˣ and 7 other mss is also an attractive reading.
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
[3] dynheimum í: so 738ˣ, 1441ˣ, 10575ˣ, 2797ˣ, ‘dimheimuṁ i’ or ‘dinheimum i’ 166bˣ, ‘dyrheimum i’ papp15ˣ, ‘i dynheimum’ 214ˣ
en ‘and’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
hel ‘’
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1. hel (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju): death, Hel, hell < helgrund (noun f.)
heljar ‘of Hell’
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1. hel (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju): death, Hel, hell
[4] heljar grind: so 10575ˣ, 2797ˣ, helgrind 166bˣ, heljar grund papp15ˣ
notes
[4] heljar grind ‘gate of Hell’: Two late mss, 10575ˣ and 2797ˣ, have this reading, which produces a metrically regular fornyrðislag l., whereas the cpd helgrind, the reading of 166bˣ, 738ˣ, and a significant number of other mss gives a kviðuháttr l. Papp15ˣ reads heljar grund ‘the abyss of Hell’, as do 13 other mss; this is also metrically acceptable, and roaring might be more likely from an abyss than a gate. However the gates of death (portae mortis) are referred to in Job XXXVIII.17, Psalm IX.15 and the gates of Hell (portae inferi) in Matt. XVI.18. The image is also present in a pagan context, cf. nágrindr ‘corpse-gate’ Skí 35/3, Lok 63/6 and helgrindr ‘Hell-gate’ SnE 1982, 9, 47.
grund ‘’
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grund (noun f.): earth, land < helgrund (noun f.)
grind ‘the gate’
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grind (noun f.): gate, pen
[4] heljar grind: so 10575ˣ, 2797ˣ, helgrind 166bˣ, heljar grund papp15ˣ
notes
[4] heljar grind ‘gate of Hell’: Two late mss, 10575ˣ and 2797ˣ, have this reading, which produces a metrically regular fornyrðislag l., whereas the cpd helgrind, the reading of 166bˣ, 738ˣ, and a significant number of other mss gives a kviðuháttr l. Papp15ˣ reads heljar grund ‘the abyss of Hell’, as do 13 other mss; this is also metrically acceptable, and roaring might be more likely from an abyss than a gate. However the gates of death (portae mortis) are referred to in Job XXXVIII.17, Psalm IX.15 and the gates of Hell (portae inferi) in Matt. XVI.18. The image is also present in a pagan context, cf. nágrindr ‘corpse-gate’ Skí 35/3, Lok 63/6 and helgrindr ‘Hell-gate’ SnE 1982, 9, 47.
heyrða ‘heard’
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2. heyra (verb): hear
[5] heyrða: so papp15ˣ, 738ˣ, 1441ˣ, 10575ˣ, 2797ˣ, ‘hedi’ 166bˣ, heyrði 214ˣ
á ‘’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
annan ‘the other’
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1. annarr (pron.; °f. ǫnnur, n. annat; pl. aðrir): (an)other, second
[5] annan: á annan papp15ˣ, 2797ˣ
veg ‘direction’
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1. vegr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-; -ar/-ir, gen. -a/-na, acc. -a/-i/-u): way, path, side
þjóta ‘roaring’
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þjóta (verb): roar
þungliga ‘weightily’
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þungliga (adv.): heavily
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
This st. is the first of a series of anaphoric sts (39-45), beginning Sól ek sá ‘I saw the sun’. The significance of the sun in these sts is disputed: Falk 1914, 22 interprets it as symbolising Christ; Björn M. Ólsen 1915, 42 sees it as the actual sun, seen with the narrator’s dying eyes. Paasche 1948, 181 argues that the sun is to be interpreted on both naturalistic and symbolic levels, an argument broadly endorsed by Fidjestøl 1979, 46.
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