Anon Heildr 9^VII

Mærr valdi gefr mildi
meinlausum her beinan
guðs, þeim er grimmu niðrar
grandi hræzlu, anda.
Sú er prýðigjöf góðum
grundvöllr stöðugr undir
(náir gipt, er krefr) kröptum
(Krist af hjarta tvistu).

{Mærr valdi mildi} gefr meinlausum her, þeim er niðrar grimmu grandi hræzlu, beinan anda guðs. Sú prýðigjöf er stöðugr grundvöllr undir góðum kröptum; náir gipt, er krefr Krist af tvistu hjarta.

{The great ruler of mercy} [= God] gives the sinless army, which supresses terrible damage through fear, the helpful spirit of God. That magnificent gift is a secure foundation beneath good powers; he will obtain grace who calls on Christ from a repentant [lit. sorrowful] heart.

Mss: B(10r), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [1] valdi: valdr all    [3] niðrar: niðra all    [6] stöðugr: so 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘sto᷎ðug[...]’ B    [7] er: en all

Editions: Skj AII, 161, Skj BII, 177, Skald II, 93, NN §2339; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 54, Rydberg 1907, 2, 46, Attwood 1996a, 57, 153.

Notes: [1] valdi ‘ruler’: B has valdr, a m. noun with the same meaning as valdi. However, all eds (following Nj 1875-8, II, 27-9) emend to give a two-syllable word, as the l. would otherwise be too short. — [3] þeim er niðrar ‘the one which supresses’: The ms. reading ‘þeim er … nidra’ gives a sg. subject with a pl. verb. Skj B emends to niðrar, 3rd pers. sg., but retains the pl. form niðra in the prose order (most likely a typographical error). Hræzlu ‘through fear’ (l. 4) is understood as an instrumental dat. referring to the fear of God, which the army of righteous Christians uses to suppress the damage caused by sin. Kock (NN §2339) sees the Holy Spirit, rather than Christian people, as the motive force. Kock’s reading requires the emendation of þeim (dat.) to þann (acc.), construing gefr meinlausum her beinan anda guðs, þanns niðrar grimmu grandi hræzlu ‘gives the sinless army the helpful spirit of God, which suppresses the terrible damage of fear’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
7. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1844. Fjøgur gømul kvæði. Boðsrit til að hlusta á þá opinberu yfirheyrslu í Bessastaða Skóla þann 22-29 mai 1844. Viðeyar Klaustri: prentuð af Helga Helgasyni, á kostnað Bessastaða Skóla. Bessastaðir: Helgi Helgason.