Anonymous Poems, Heilags anda drápa 13

Katrina Attwood

kennings

sólar salkonungs,
‘the sun’s hall-king’
= God
the hall of the sun, → SKY/HEAVEN
the king of the SKY/HEAVEN → God

notes

[1, 3, 4] hreinn fingr hægri handar sólar salkonungs ‘pure finger of the right hand of the king of the hall of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to salkonungr ‘hall-king’ (nom. sg.) (l. 1), taking the st. as an apostrophe to the first person of the Trinity. He construes Sólar salkonungr, þinn hreinn fingr hægri handar er frami gipta sjauskiptr ‘King of the hall of the sun, the pure finger of your right hand is the sevenfold distinction of good fortunes’. The Lat. here, as elsewhere, is vocative, and B’s text can be retained as a straightforward calque on dextrae Dei tu digitus. The God-kenning salkonungr sólar ‘king of the hall of the sun’ recurs in Leið 25/7, and is probably modelled on salkonungr himna ‘king of the hall of the heavens’ in Geisl 66/6 (see Note on Leið 13/5-8).

Close

sal ‘of the hall’

(not checked:)
1. salr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; dat. sǫlum): hall < salkonungr (noun m.): hall-king

kennings

sólar salkonungs,
‘the sun’s hall-king’
= God
the hall of the sun, → SKY/HEAVEN
the king of the SKY/HEAVEN → God

notes

[1, 3, 4] hreinn fingr hægri handar sólar salkonungs ‘pure finger of the right hand of the king of the hall of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to salkonungr ‘hall-king’ (nom. sg.) (l. 1), taking the st. as an apostrophe to the first person of the Trinity. He construes Sólar salkonungr, þinn hreinn fingr hægri handar er frami gipta sjauskiptr ‘King of the hall of the sun, the pure finger of your right hand is the sevenfold distinction of good fortunes’. The Lat. here, as elsewhere, is vocative, and B’s text can be retained as a straightforward calque on dextrae Dei tu digitus. The God-kenning salkonungr sólar ‘king of the hall of the sun’ recurs in Leið 25/7, and is probably modelled on salkonungr himna ‘king of the hall of the heavens’ in Geisl 66/6 (see Note on Leið 13/5-8).

Close

konungs ‘of the king’

(not checked:)
konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king < salkonungr (noun m.): hall-king

kennings

sólar salkonungs,
‘the sun’s hall-king’
= God
the hall of the sun, → SKY/HEAVEN
the king of the SKY/HEAVEN → God

notes

[1, 3, 4] hreinn fingr hægri handar sólar salkonungs ‘pure finger of the right hand of the king of the hall of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to salkonungr ‘hall-king’ (nom. sg.) (l. 1), taking the st. as an apostrophe to the first person of the Trinity. He construes Sólar salkonungr, þinn hreinn fingr hægri handar er frami gipta sjauskiptr ‘King of the hall of the sun, the pure finger of your right hand is the sevenfold distinction of good fortunes’. The Lat. here, as elsewhere, is vocative, and B’s text can be retained as a straightforward calque on dextrae Dei tu digitus. The God-kenning salkonungr sólar ‘king of the hall of the sun’ recurs in Leið 25/7, and is probably modelled on salkonungr himna ‘king of the hall of the heavens’ in Geisl 66/6 (see Note on Leið 13/5-8).

Close

sólar ‘of the sun’

(not checked:)
sól (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ir): sun

kennings

sólar salkonungs,
‘the sun’s hall-king’
= God
the hall of the sun, → SKY/HEAVEN
the king of the SKY/HEAVEN → God

notes

[1, 3, 4] hreinn fingr hægri handar sólar salkonungs ‘pure finger of the right hand of the king of the hall of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to salkonungr ‘hall-king’ (nom. sg.) (l. 1), taking the st. as an apostrophe to the first person of the Trinity. He construes Sólar salkonungr, þinn hreinn fingr hægri handar er frami gipta sjauskiptr ‘King of the hall of the sun, the pure finger of your right hand is the sevenfold distinction of good fortunes’. The Lat. here, as elsewhere, is vocative, and B’s text can be retained as a straightforward calque on dextrae Dei tu digitus. The God-kenning salkonungr sólar ‘king of the hall of the sun’ recurs in Leið 25/7, and is probably modelled on salkonungr himna ‘king of the hall of the heavens’ in Geisl 66/6 (see Note on Leið 13/5-8).

Close

sólar ‘of the sun’

(not checked:)
sól (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ir): sun

kennings

sólar salkonungs,
‘the sun’s hall-king’
= God
the hall of the sun, → SKY/HEAVEN
the king of the SKY/HEAVEN → God

notes

[1, 3, 4] hreinn fingr hægri handar sólar salkonungs ‘pure finger of the right hand of the king of the hall of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to salkonungr ‘hall-king’ (nom. sg.) (l. 1), taking the st. as an apostrophe to the first person of the Trinity. He construes Sólar salkonungr, þinn hreinn fingr hægri handar er frami gipta sjauskiptr ‘King of the hall of the sun, the pure finger of your right hand is the sevenfold distinction of good fortunes’. The Lat. here, as elsewhere, is vocative, and B’s text can be retained as a straightforward calque on dextrae Dei tu digitus. The God-kenning salkonungr sólar ‘king of the hall of the sun’ recurs in Leið 25/7, and is probably modelled on salkonungr himna ‘king of the hall of the heavens’ in Geisl 66/6 (see Note on Leið 13/5-8).

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sjau ‘seven’

(not checked:)
sjau (num. cardinal): seven < sjauskiptr (adj./verb p.p.)

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skiptr ‘fold’

(not checked:)
-skiptr (adj.): [fold] < sjauskiptr (adj./verb p.p.)

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frami ‘distinction’

(not checked:)
frami (noun m.): success

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gipta ‘of grace [lit. good fortunes]’

(not checked:)
gift (noun f.): gift

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vandask ‘are elaborately crafted’

(not checked:)
vanda (verb): fashion, execute

notes

[3, 4] bragar greinir vandask ‘the poem’s branches are elaborately crafted’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) interprets this cl. in a negative sense, as a reflection of the poet’s concern about the difficulties of reconciling the skaldic medium to complex latinate poetic figures. Finnur glosses digtet bliver nu vanskeligt ‘now the poem is becoming difficult’. This involves taking vandask as 3rd pers. pl. pres. sg. m.v. of vanda, used reflexively, meaning ‘to become difficult, precarious’ (Fritzner: vandast 5). Vanda can also mean ‘to work elaborately, to take pains over’ (Fritzner: vanda 3), however, so it is also possible to interpret the phrase as a boast about the poet’s craftsmanship, and that is the sense adopted here.

Close

hægri ‘of the right’

(not checked:)
hœgri (adj. comp.): higher, highest

notes

[1, 3, 4] hreinn fingr hægri handar sólar salkonungs ‘pure finger of the right hand of the king of the hall of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to salkonungr ‘hall-king’ (nom. sg.) (l. 1), taking the st. as an apostrophe to the first person of the Trinity. He construes Sólar salkonungr, þinn hreinn fingr hægri handar er frami gipta sjauskiptr ‘King of the hall of the sun, the pure finger of your right hand is the sevenfold distinction of good fortunes’. The Lat. here, as elsewhere, is vocative, and B’s text can be retained as a straightforward calque on dextrae Dei tu digitus. The God-kenning salkonungr sólar ‘king of the hall of the sun’ recurs in Leið 25/7, and is probably modelled on salkonungr himna ‘king of the hall of the heavens’ in Geisl 66/6 (see Note on Leið 13/5-8).

Close

handar ‘hand’

(not checked:)
hǫnd (noun f.; °handar, dat. hendi; hendr (hendir StatPáll³ 752¹²)): hand

notes

[1, 3, 4] hreinn fingr hægri handar sólar salkonungs ‘pure finger of the right hand of the king of the hall of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to salkonungr ‘hall-king’ (nom. sg.) (l. 1), taking the st. as an apostrophe to the first person of the Trinity. He construes Sólar salkonungr, þinn hreinn fingr hægri handar er frami gipta sjauskiptr ‘King of the hall of the sun, the pure finger of your right hand is the sevenfold distinction of good fortunes’. The Lat. here, as elsewhere, is vocative, and B’s text can be retained as a straightforward calque on dextrae Dei tu digitus. The God-kenning salkonungr sólar ‘king of the hall of the sun’ recurs in Leið 25/7, and is probably modelled on salkonungr himna ‘king of the hall of the heavens’ in Geisl 66/6 (see Note on Leið 13/5-8).

Close

hreinn ‘Pure’

(not checked:)
2. hreinn (adj.; °compar. hreinari/hreinni, superl. hreinastr/hreinstr): pure

notes

[1, 3, 4] hreinn fingr hægri handar sólar salkonungs ‘pure finger of the right hand of the king of the hall of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to salkonungr ‘hall-king’ (nom. sg.) (l. 1), taking the st. as an apostrophe to the first person of the Trinity. He construes Sólar salkonungr, þinn hreinn fingr hægri handar er frami gipta sjauskiptr ‘King of the hall of the sun, the pure finger of your right hand is the sevenfold distinction of good fortunes’. The Lat. here, as elsewhere, is vocative, and B’s text can be retained as a straightforward calque on dextrae Dei tu digitus. The God-kenning salkonungr sólar ‘king of the hall of the sun’ recurs in Leið 25/7, and is probably modelled on salkonungr himna ‘king of the hall of the heavens’ in Geisl 66/6 (see Note on Leið 13/5-8).

Close

fingr ‘finger’

(not checked:)
1. fingr (noun m.; °fingrs/fingrar, dat. fingri; fingr, acc. fingr): finger

notes

[1, 3, 4] hreinn fingr hægri handar sólar salkonungs ‘pure finger of the right hand of the king of the hall of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to salkonungr ‘hall-king’ (nom. sg.) (l. 1), taking the st. as an apostrophe to the first person of the Trinity. He construes Sólar salkonungr, þinn hreinn fingr hægri handar er frami gipta sjauskiptr ‘King of the hall of the sun, the pure finger of your right hand is the sevenfold distinction of good fortunes’. The Lat. here, as elsewhere, is vocative, and B’s text can be retained as a straightforward calque on dextrae Dei tu digitus. The God-kenning salkonungr sólar ‘king of the hall of the sun’ recurs in Leið 25/7, and is probably modelled on salkonungr himna ‘king of the hall of the heavens’ in Geisl 66/6 (see Note on Leið 13/5-8).

Close

bragar ‘the poem’s’

(not checked:)
bragr (noun m.; °-ar): poem, poetry

notes

[3, 4] bragar greinir vandask ‘the poem’s branches are elaborately crafted’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) interprets this cl. in a negative sense, as a reflection of the poet’s concern about the difficulties of reconciling the skaldic medium to complex latinate poetic figures. Finnur glosses digtet bliver nu vanskeligt ‘now the poem is becoming difficult’. This involves taking vandask as 3rd pers. pl. pres. sg. m.v. of vanda, used reflexively, meaning ‘to become difficult, precarious’ (Fritzner: vandast 5). Vanda can also mean ‘to work elaborately, to take pains over’ (Fritzner: vanda 3), however, so it is also possible to interpret the phrase as a boast about the poet’s craftsmanship, and that is the sense adopted here.

Close

greinir ‘branches’

(not checked:)
grein (noun f.): reason, period, branch

notes

[3, 4] bragar greinir vandask ‘the poem’s branches are elaborately crafted’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) interprets this cl. in a negative sense, as a reflection of the poet’s concern about the difficulties of reconciling the skaldic medium to complex latinate poetic figures. Finnur glosses digtet bliver nu vanskeligt ‘now the poem is becoming difficult’. This involves taking vandask as 3rd pers. pl. pres. sg. m.v. of vanda, used reflexively, meaning ‘to become difficult, precarious’ (Fritzner: vandast 5). Vanda can also mean ‘to work elaborately, to take pains over’ (Fritzner: vanda 3), however, so it is also possible to interpret the phrase as a boast about the poet’s craftsmanship, and that is the sense adopted here.