Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Brúðkaupsvísur 6’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 533-4.
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œðri (adj. comp.): nobler, higher
[1] æstri (sup. adj.) ‘highest’: Jón Helgason (ÍM II, 130n) suggested that this could be a development from hæstri (sup. adj. f. of hár ‘high’), if the poem was old enough to allow the rhyme zt : st; æztri could also be f. acc. sg. sup. of æðri ‘higher’ (œðri comp.; the adj. has no positive degree).
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1. unna (verb): love
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mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden
[1] meyju ‘Virgin’: Jón Helgason thought, on metrical grounds, that mey was the original reading, as in hálfhneppt one cannot have a long-stemmed disyllabic word preceding the final monosyllable.
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meiri (adj. comp.; °meiran; superl. mestr): more, most
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María (noun f.): Mary
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siðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -/-i; -ir, acc. -u): faith, morals < siðknár (adj.)
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knár (adj.; °compar. -ri, superl. -str): [behaved, active] < siðknár (adj.)
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
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mætr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -astr): honoured, respected
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1. sif (noun f.; °; -jar): °(I) svogerskab, svogerskabsforhold
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sik (pron.; °gen. sín, dat. sér): (refl. pron.)
[3] sig: so 2166ˣ, sif 721, 1032ˣ, 399a‑bˣ
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snót (noun f.; °; -ir): woman
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sjalfr (adj.): self
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gefa (verb): give
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1. bók (noun f.; °bǿkr/bókar; bǿkr): book
[4] bóka (f. gen. pl.) ‘books’: Jón Helgason thought that bók was the original reading, on the same metrical grounds as with meyju (l. 1).
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alfr (noun m.; °; -ar): elf
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húfr (noun m.; °dat. -i): hull
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húfr (noun m.; °dat. -i): hull
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2. venja (verb): accustom, train
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2. hreinn (adj.; °compar. hreinari/hreinni, superl. hreinastr/hreinstr): pure
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líf (noun n.; °-s; -): life
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halda (verb): hold, keep
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vel (adv.): well, very
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skíð (noun n.; °; -): ski < Skíðbaldr (noun m.)
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skíð (noun n.; °; -): ski < Skíðbaldr (noun m.)
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Baldr (noun m.): [Baldr, Baldur] < Skíðbaldr (noun m.)
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brúðr (noun f.; °brúðar, dat. & acc. brúði; brúðir): woman, bride
[7] brúða: brúði 721
[7] brúða ‘of brides’: The mss all have brúði (f. acc. sg.) but if blóma (m. acc. sg. of blómi) ‘flower’ is the base-word, the determinant, brúðr ‘bride’, has to be in gen. pl. brúða. Jón Helgason proposed this emendation.
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2. heita (verb): be called, promise
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brandr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): sword, prow; fire < brandrjóðr (noun m.)
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1. rjóðr (noun m.): reddener < brandrjóðr (noun m.)
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blómi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): flower
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með (prep.): with
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sveinn (noun m.; °sveins; sveinar): boy, servant, attendant < sveindómr (noun m.)
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dómr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): judgement; court; -dom, -ness (suffix) < sveindómr (noun m.)
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Æstri unni meyju mest |
The well-behaved elm-tree of books [MAN] loved most the highest Virgin, Mary, and gave himself to the glorious woman. The Baldr <god> of the plank of hulls [(lit. ‘plank-Baldr of hulls’) SHIPS > SEAFARER] was accustomed to follow fully a chaste life with virginity; the sword-reddener [WARRIOR] promised it to the flower of brides [= Mary].
Sts 6-7, and to a lesser extent st. 5, suggest that the young man may be a klerkr, although this does not appear to affect his marriageability. Schottmann (1973, 355-6) sees this rather mixed representation of the protagonist as a consequence of the poet’s drawing upon more than one version of the miracle story, but it may rather reflect the uncertain status of marriage, and clerical marriage in particular, in Iceland in the later Middle Ages (Auður Magnúsdóttir 2001). The justification for his eventual reneging on his secular marriage in D turns on the fact that he had dedicated himself to Mary in chastity for his whole life before he entered into a betrothal arrangement with an earthly woman, even though he had not declared this to his family (Mar 1871, 120).
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