Anon Brúðv 24^VII

Byskups sóttu fund fljótt
ferðir, sem gietið verðr,
með blíðum brynmeiðs
bjóði, hvie þar fór,
því að væntu vinir brátt
vígtungls boða ungs,
að bætir vel vitr
vansa snyri skapi hans.

Ferðir sóttu fund byskups fljótt með {blíðum bjóði {brynmeiðs}}, sem verðr gietið hvie þar fór, því að vinir {ungs boða {vígtungls}} væntu að {vel vitr bætir vansa} snyri brátt skapi hans.

The crowds quickly sought a meeting with the bishop along with {the kind offerer {of the byrnie-stick}} [SWORD > WARRIOR], as will be told, how that turned out there, because the friends {of the young messenger {of the battle-moon}} [SHIELD > WARRIOR] expected that {the amply wise amender of disgrace} [BISHOP] would soon change his [the young man’s] mind.

Mss: 721(14v), 1032ˣ(107v-108v), 399a-bˣ(10), 2166ˣ(10)

Readings: [1] Byskups: so 399a‑bˣ, 2166ˣ, Byskup 721, 1032ˣ;    sóttu: ‘soktv’ 721    [2] ferðir: ferðar 721    [3] brynmeiðs: brynmeið 721    [4] bjóði: bjóða 721    [5] væntu: vættu 2166ˣ    [6] vígtungls: ‘vígtvngs’ 721    [7] bætir: bæti 721

Editions: ÍM II, 133.

Notes: [All]: In Brúðv, the bishop appears as something of a deus ex machina. In Mar his appearance and judgement are better motivated. In the D-version, the young man’s family and all the wedding party first try to persuade him to change his mind before taking him before the bishop. — [1-4]: This helmingr appears to be corrupt in 721, and several emendations have been proposed here to make sense of it. In l. 1, the emendation Byskups (gen.) already appears in 399a-bˣ, while 721’s ‘soktv’ has been emended to sóttu ‘they sought’, which is needed to rhyme with fljótt. In ll. 3-4 721’s brynmeið and bjóða have been emended to produce a regular warrior-kenning. The emendation of 721’s ferðar to ferðir (l. 2) was suggested by Jón Helgason. — [4] fór ‘went’: In the main text the scribe of 2166ˣ writes stóð, which provides a better rhyme, but mentions 721’s reading in the margin. — [5] væntu ‘expected’: Jón Sigurðsson suggested the form vættu in the margin of 399a-bˣ, probably because that forms a half-rhyme (skothending) with brátt. The scribe of 2166ˣ adopted the reading vættu in the main text, mentioning the other in the margin. Jón Helgason also emended to vættu in his edn to get the half-rhyme. — [6] -tungls ‘moon’: The scribe of 721 seems to have forgotten to write the ‘l’, and the other scribes copied his mistake. The emendation was suggested by Jón Helgason. — [7] bætir ‘amender’: The word has to be in the nom. to be the base-word of the kenning bætir vansa ‘amender of disgrace [BISHOP]’. The emendation was suggested by Jón Helgason. — [8] snyri ‘turn’: An unusual form of the 3rd pers. sg. pret. subj. snøri.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Höskuldur Þráinsson. 1999. Íslensk setningafræði. Reykjavík: Málvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands.
3. ÍM = Jón Helgason, ed. 1936-8. Íslenzk miðaldarkvæði: Islandske digte fra senmiddelalderen. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
4. Internal references
5. Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Brúðkaupsvísur’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 527-53. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3104> (accessed 20 April 2024)