Kirsten Wolf (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Heilagra manna drápa 3’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 875.
Hræra niðr í heilasárið
hodda vers með sverða oddum
hræðiliga og hreyttu síðan
hrygð vinnandi um musterið innan,
megandi sjá, hvar mátti laugaz
móðir skær í sonarins blóði;
tíguligr með tvieföldum sigri
Tómas skínn í drottins blóma.
Hræðiliga hræra með sverða oddum niðr í heilasárið {vers hodda} og hreyttu síðan vinnandi hrygð um musterið innan, megandi sjá hvar skær móðir mátti laugaz í blóði sonarins tíguligr Tómas skínn með tvieföldum sigri í blóma drottins.
‘Horribly [they] twist with swords’ points down into the brain-wound of the man of treasures [TREASURE GUARDIAN] and then threw [the cerebral substance] away, causing grief within the cathedral, being able to see where the bright mother could be bathed in the blood of the son; the magnificent Thomas shines with a two-fold victory in the glory of the Lord.’
The detail that Thomas’s brains were spilled on the cathedral floor is found in a number of the prose lives (Unger 1869, 262, 442; Eiríkur Magnússon 1875-83, I, 546). The rather macabre interest of this st. in Thomas’s wound finds a parallel in Þorgils saga skarða, where Þorgils, who asked to have Thómas saga read to him on the evening before he died (1258), is said to have suffered the same fatal wound as S. Thomas did (Stu 1906-11, II, 295, 298). — [5-6]: Presumably these ll. allude to the fear and sorrow of the cathedral monks (watching the killing from a safe distance), concerned that the altar, dedicated to the Virgin, where Becket prayed immediately before the attack, could be stained with his blood, as in fact happened (cf. Unger 1869, 260, 441; Eiríkur Magnússon 1875-83, I, 542). Megandi sjá hvar ‘being able to see where’ presumably assumes the cathedral monks as the unstated subject of the pres. part. megandi.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
†[...]æra† niðr í heilasárið
hodda vers með sverða oddum
hræðiliga og hreyttu síðan
hrygð vinnandi um musterið innan,
megandi sjá, hvar mátti laugaz
móðir skær í sonarins blóði;
tíguligr með tvieföldum sigri
Tómas skínn í drottins blóma.
[...]æra nidr j heila sarit hodda uers med suerda oddum hrædiliga | ok hreyttu sidan hrygd uínnande vm musterit innan; meg | ande sía huar mattí laugazt modir skær j sonarins blodí | tigulegr med tuefo᷎lldvm sigri thomas skinn j drottíns bloma |
(KW)
†h(ans f)æra† niðr í heilasárið
hodda vers með sverða oddum
hræðiliga og hreyttu síðan
hrygð vinnandi um musterið innan,
megandi sjá, hvar mátti laugaz
móðir skær í sonarins blóði;
tíguligr með tvieföldum sigri
Tómas skínn í drottins blóma.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.