Anon Brúðv 3VII
Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Brúðkaupsvísur 3’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 530-1.
Út gjörðiz atburðr
einnhverr um framan svein
í heimi — horskr maðr
hölda má sá við fjöld*
þar er mildi mærðvalds
móðir lýsti huggóð
dýra, sú er dýrst er,
drótta við sig*-Þrótt.
Einnhverr atburðr um framan svein gjörðiz út í heimi — sá horskr maðr má við fjöld* hölda —, þar er {huggóð móðir {mærðvalds drótta}}, sú er dýrst er, lýsti dýra mildi við {sig*-Þrótt}.
A certain event concerning an outstanding youth took place abroad [lit. out in the world] — that wise man can withstand a multitude of men — where {the kind-hearted mother {of the glory-ruler of mankind}} [= God (= Christ) > = Mary], who is the most noble one, manifested precious mercy to {the battle-Þróttr <= Óðinn>} [WARRIOR].
Mss: 721(14r), 1032ˣ(97v-98v), 399a-bˣ(1-2), 2166ˣ(2)
Readings: [4] fjöld*: fjöldr 721 [5] ‑valds: vald 721 [8] sig*‑: siga 721
Editions: ÍM II, 130.
Notes: [3-4] sá horskr maðr má við fjöld* hölda ‘that wise man can withstand a multitude of men’: This comment by the poet presumably anticipates the young man’s later withstanding pressure from his family and society in general to get married. — [4] fjöld* (f. sg.) ‘multitude’: All mss have fjöldr. Jón Helgason printed the reading from 721 without comment. The word fjöldr cannot be found in any dictionary and is emended to fjöld here. Konráð Gíslason (1846, 76-7) pointed out that occasionally scribes added <r> before or after <ð> due to the similarity of the phonemes. That might be the case here. — [5] valds (m. gen. sg.) ‘ruler’: Jón Helgason emended ‘ualld’ (m. dat. sg.) to valds to provide a determinant in the kenning móðir mærðvalds drótta ‘mother of the glory-ruler of mankind [= God (= Christ) > = Mary]’. — [8] sig* ‘battle’: Jón Helgason emended siga- to sig-. Compounds with the form sig + Óðinn-heiti are not uncommon in skaldic poetry (see LP: sig, n.). However, siga- could still make sense as gen. pl. of sig ‘battle’. — [8] Þróttr: This is the first of several instances in which the poet uses a name of one of the Norse gods or goddesses to form the base-word of a man- or woman-kenning.
References
- Bibliography
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- ÍM = Jón Helgason, ed. 1936-8. Íslenzk miðaldarkvæði: Islandske digte fra senmiddelalderen. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
- Konráð Gíslason. 1846. Um frum-parta íslenzkrar túngu í fornöld. Copenhagen: Hið Íslenzka Bókmentafjelag.
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