Anon Brúðv 13^VII

Vitraz honum sæl snót
sýnum var hun ófrýn
við keyri kafþjórs
kænum, er hann svaf á bæn.
En heilög hring-Sól
heiðar þótti vera reið
— randa leiz svá róg-Þund —
röðuls og óglöð.

Sæl snót vitraz {kænum keyri {kafþjórs}}, er hann svaf á bæn; hun var ófrýn sýnum við honum. En heilög {{{röðuls heiðar} hring-}Sól} þótti vera reið og óglöð; svá leiz {{randa róg-}Þund}.

The blessed woman appears {to the skilful driver {of the ox of the deep}} [SHIP > SEAFARER] as he slept during prayer; she was seemingly frowning at him. But the holy {Sól <goddess> {of the ring {of the heath of the sun}}} [(lit. ‘ring-Sól of the heath of the sun’) SKY/HEAVEN > SUN > = Mary] seemed to be angry and unhappy; so it appeared {to the Þundr <= Óðinn> {of the strife of shields}} [(lit. ‘strife-Þundr of shields’) BATTLE > WARRIOR].

Mss: 721(14v), 1032ˣ(102v-103v), 399a-bˣ(5-6), 2166ˣ(5-6)

Readings: [4] svaf: so 399a‑bˣ, 2166ˣ, ‘saf’ 721, 1032ˣ

Editions: ÍM II, 131.

Notes: [1] sæl snót ‘the blessed woman’: The Virgin Mary. — [5-8] heilög hring-Sól heiðar röðuls ‘the holy ring-Sól of the heath of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > SUN > = Mary]’: Hring-Sól could be taken as a simple woman-kenning: ‘Sól <goddess, personification of the sun> of the rings’ [WOMAN]. It could also be a part of an inverted kenning; ‘the holy Sól of the ring of the heath of the sun’, creating a sort of threefold image of the sun, first the base-word itself (Sól), then in the two sub-kennings. Hringr ‘ring’ does not usually occur in sun-kennings, but the word can be used to denote forskellige slags ‘ringe, ringformede genstande’ ‘various kinds of round and ring-formed things’ (LP: hringr), presumably including the sun. Cf. Schottmann 1973, 129 on this kind of kenning for the Virgin. On Sól as a personification of the sun, see SnE 1982, 13. The bright imagery in the kenning forms a sharp contrast to the ‘angry and unhappy’ appearance of Mary (reið og óglöð), who is described as ófrýn sýnum ‘seemingly frowning’ in the previous helmingr (l. 2). In Mar she is more decorous: með hrygðar yfirbragði ‘with the appearance of sorrow’ (Mar 1871, 119).

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
3. Schottmann, Hans. 1973. Die isländische Mariendichtung. Untersuchungen zur volkssprachigen Mariendichtung des Mittelalters. Münchner germanistische Beiträge 9. Munich: Fink.
4. ÍM = Jón Helgason, ed. 1936-8. Íslenzk miðaldarkvæði: Islandske digte fra senmiddelalderen. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
5. SnE 1982 = Snorri Sturluson. 1982. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. Oxford: Clarendon. Rpt. 1988. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
6. Internal references
7. Carolyne Larrington and Peter Robinson 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Sólarljóð’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 287-357. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1041> (accessed 18 April 2024)