Anon Sól 43^VII

Sól ek sá        á sjónum skjálfandi
        hræzlufullr ok hnipinn,
þvít hjarta mitt        var harðla mjök
        runnit sundr í sega.

Hræzlufullr ok hnipinn, sá ek sól, skjálfandi á sjónum, þvít hjarta mitt var harðla mjök runnit sundr í sega.

Terrified and cowed, I saw the sun, trembling in my eyes, for my heart had completely turned to shreds.

Mss: 166bˣ(47r), papp15ˣ(4v), 738ˣ(82r), 214ˣ(150v), 1441ˣ(584), 10575ˣ(6v), 2797ˣ(234)

Readings: [2] á: om. 2797ˣ    [4] hjarta: ‘hiar[...]’ 214ˣ    [5] harðla: om. papp15ˣ, 10575ˣ, heldr 738ˣ, 214ˣ, 1441ˣ, 2797ˣ    [6] sega: siga papp15ˣ, 1441ˣ, 10575ˣ, 2797ˣ, sefa 214ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 634, Skj BI, 642, Skald I, 312; Bugge 1867, 363-4, Falk 1914, 19, Björn M. Ólsen 1915, 15, Fidjestøl 1979, 65, Njörður Njarðvík 1991, 73-4, Njörður Njarðvík 1993, 49, 120-1.

Notes: [All]: 738ˣ transposes sts 43 and 44. — [2] skjálfandi á sjónum ‘trembling in [my] eyes’: Sjónir (f. pl.) means ‘eyes’ or ‘sight’, though it is possible to take it, as Björn M. Ólsen does (1915, 44) as dat. sg. of sjór ‘sea’. Skjálfandi is universal in the mss; it could refer to sól ‘sun’ (f. acc. sg.) or ek ‘I’ (masc. nom. sg.); á is in almost all mss; Skj B omits it, and emends l. 2 to sjónum skjalfǫndum, translated med bævende öjne ‘with trembling eyes’; Skald includes á at the end of l. 1, while Falk, Björn M. Ólsen and Njörður Njarðvík retain á (as here) in l. 2. While the majority of eds conclude with Skj B that the narrator’s sight is trembling, Falk (1914a, 23) suggests that the sun appears to tremble to the frightened narrator, while Björn M. Ólsen (1915, 43) contends that the image is naturalistic; the sun appears to shiver as it sinks into the sea. — [6] runnit sundr í sega ‘completely turned to shreds’: Björn M. Ólsen (1915, 44) and Njörður Njarðvík (1991, 74-5) relate this to contritio cordis ‘contrition of the heart’ or sorrow for sin, the first stage of the sacrament of penance, cf. Psalm L.19, discussed in HómÍsl 1872, 168.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Fidjestøl, Bjarne, ed. 1979a. Sólarljóð: Tydning og Tolkningsgrunnlag. Nordisk Instituts skrifteserie 4. Bergen, Oslo and Tromsø: Universitetsforlaget.
5. Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1915a. Sólarljóð: gefin út með skíringum og athugasemdum. Safn til sögu Íslands og íslenzkra bókmenta 5.1. Reykjavík: Prentsmiðja Gutenberg.
6. Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1867. Norrœn fornkvæði. Islandsk samling af folkelige oldtidsdigte om nordens guder og heroer. Almindelig kaldet Sæmundar Edda hins frøda. Christiania (Oslo): Malling. Rpt. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget 1965.
7. Falk, Hjalmar, ed. 1914a. Sólarljóð. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II. Hist.-filos. kl. 7. 2 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
8. Njörður P. Njarðvik, ed. 1991. Sólarljóð. Útgáfa og umfjöllun. Íslensk Rit 10. Reykjavík: Bókmenntafræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands og Menningarsjóður.
9. Njörður P. Njarðvik. 1993. Solsången. Akademisk avhandling för filosofiedoktorsexamen i nordiska språk. Göteborgs universitet: Institutionen för svensk språket.
10. HómÍsl 1872 = Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1872. Homiliu-bók: Isländska homilier efter en handskrift från tolfte århundredet. Lund: Gleerup.