Ólhv Frag 9^III

Vǫndrs Máría mynduð
(meins en eplit hreina
endr gat) Jesse kindar
(alls grœðari kallask).

Máría [e]s mynduð vǫndr kindar Jesse, en {grœðari alls meins} gat endr kallask eplit hreina.

Mary is symbolised by the branch of Jesse’s kin, and {the healer of all evil} [= Christ] was once called the pure apple.

Mss: A(8v), W(111) (TGT)

Readings: [2] en: sem W    [3] gat: at A, W

Editions: Skj AI, 627, Skj BI, 635, Skald I, 308; SnE 1818, 334, SnE 1848, 200, SnE 1848-87, II, 188-9, 427, III, 153, TGT 1884, 32, 118-19, 237, TGT 1927, 89, 110.

Context: Cited as an example of paradigma, which Óláfr explains as follows (TGT 1927, 89): Paradigma samjamnar fyrst nǫkkura hluti ok síðan greinir hon þá í líking ‘Paradigma first juxtaposes certain things and then it distinguishes them in form’.

Notes: [All]: Björn Magnússon Ólsen (TGT 1884, 118-19) finds a model for this half-stanza in an example of versus dissoni ‘discordant verse’ in a C13th Latin grammatical manuscript (Thurot 1868, 456): Aaron virga, quæ tulit duram | cum flore nucem contra naturam, | est porta celi | aperta nunquam sed semper clausa. | Nostræ salutis extitit causa | virgo Maria ‘The rod of Aaron, which brings forth a hard nut with a flower, contrary to nature, is the gate of heaven, never open but always closed. The cause of our salvation was the Virgin Mary’. The Latin example appears to have also inspired Óláfr’s commentary (TGT 1927, 89): Hér er greind sú samjafnan, er áðr er upp tekin milli vandar þess, er Árón bar ok laufgaðiz með ávexti, ok Máríe drótningar, er fæddi guðs son um framm mannligt eðli ‘Here the comparison is made, which has been previously established, between the staff which Aaron carried and which grew leaves with fruit, and Mary the queen who gave birth to the son of God outside human nature’. — [3] gat endr ‘was once’: It is very difficult to make sense of the mss’ reading endr at ‘again/once at/to’ here. Björn Magnússon Ólsen (TGT 1884, 237), followed by Skj B, emends to andar, creating a kenning for ‘sin’, reading: en grœðari alls meins andar kallask eplit hreina kindar Jesse ‘and the healer of all injury of the soul [SIN > = Christ] is called the pure apple of Jesse’s kin’. The present emendation was proposed by Louis-Jensen (1981) and is more conservative than Björn’s, retaining endr and adding one letter to at. Additionally it provides an appropriate example of paradigma in the parallel of er mynduð ‘is (metaphorically) represented’ and gat kallask ‘was called’. — [3] kindar Jesse ‘of Jesse’s kin’: Cf. Rom. XV.12 erit radix Iesse ‘he will be the root of Jesse’. Jesse was the father of King David and an ancestor of Christ.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Louis-Jensen, Jonna. 1981. ‘Vǫndr er Máría mynduð’. In Dronke et al. 1981, 328-36.
3. TGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
4. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
5. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
6. SnE 1848 = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1848. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, eða Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál og Háttatal. Reykjavík: Prentsmiðja landsins.
7. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
8. TGT 1927 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1927b. Óláfr Þórðarson: Málhljóða- og málskrúðsrit. Grammatisk-retorisk afhandling. Det kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Historisk-filologiske meddelelser 13, 2. Copenhagen: Høst.
9. Thurot, Charles, ed. 1868. Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque impériale et autres bibliothèques. Vol. 22, Part 2. Paris: Impremerie impériale.
10. SnE 1818 = Rask, Rasmus Kristian, ed. 1818a. Snorra Edda ásamt Skáldu og þarmeð fylgjandi ritgjörðum. Stockholm: Elmen.