Anon (FoGT) 43III
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Stanzas from the Fourth Grammatical Treatise 43’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 621.
Ábiels ‘of Abel’
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Abel (noun m.): Abel
lofar ‘praises’
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lofa (verb): praise, permit
ævi ‘life’
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ævi (noun f.; °-/-ar): life
ómeinsemi ‘Innocence’
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ómeinsemi (noun f.): [Innocence]
hreina ‘the pure’
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2. hreinn (adj.; °compar. hreinari/hreinni, superl. hreinastr/hreinstr): pure
öld ‘to mankind’
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ǫld (noun f.; °; aldir): people, age
notes
[3, 4] einkiend öld ‘specific to mankind’: Most eds regard öld as dat. sg. ‘to mankind’, though Kock (NN §2588) argues that it is an adverbial acc. meaning ‘for ever’. SnE 1848-87, II, 247 proposed that einkiend meant ‘well known to [all men]’, translating omnibus hominibus nota (cf. Skj B kendte for menneskene ‘known to mankind’), but it is more likely that einkiendr means ‘specific to, belonging to’ (cf. ONP: 2einkenna 2, p. p. einkenndr and 3 ‘specify as belonging to’), i.e. indicating that human beings alone of living creatures have understanding of morality. Cf. LP: einkendr.
lofar ‘praises’
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lofa (verb): praise, permit
Ienóch ‘Enoch’
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Enoch (noun m.): Enoch
notes
[3] mildan Ienóch ‘gentle Enoch’: This Enoch is the figure mentioned in Gen.V.21-4 who lived for three hundred and sixty-five years, walked with God and was eventually taken by him into heaven.
mildan ‘gentle’
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mildr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -astr): mild, gentle, gracious, generous
notes
[3] mildan Ienóch ‘gentle Enoch’: This Enoch is the figure mentioned in Gen.V.21-4 who lived for three hundred and sixty-five years, walked with God and was eventually taken by him into heaven.
einkiend ‘specific’
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2. einkenna (verb; °-nnd-): [specific]
notes
[3, 4] einkiend öld ‘specific to mankind’: Most eds regard öld as dat. sg. ‘to mankind’, though Kock (NN §2588) argues that it is an adverbial acc. meaning ‘for ever’. SnE 1848-87, II, 247 proposed that einkiend meant ‘well known to [all men]’, translating omnibus hominibus nota (cf. Skj B kendte for menneskene ‘known to mankind’), but it is more likely that einkiendr means ‘specific to, belonging to’ (cf. ONP: 2einkenna 2, p. p. einkenndr and 3 ‘specify as belonging to’), i.e. indicating that human beings alone of living creatures have understanding of morality. Cf. LP: einkendr.
siðavendni ‘integrity of morals’
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siðavendni (noun f.): integrity of morals
notes
[4] siðavendni ‘integrity of morals’: Hap. leg.; cf. the similar cpd siðvendis ‘of uprightness’ in st. 37/2.
Nóe ‘Noah’
lofaz ‘is praised’
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lofa (verb): praise, permit
öflugs ‘of powerful’
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ǫflugr (adj.): mighty, strong
ævi ‘The life’
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ævi (noun f.; °-/-ar): life
ágætu ‘extraordinary’
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ágætr (adj.; °compar. ágǽtari/ágǽtri, superl. ágǽtastr/ágǽztr): excellent
hreinlæti ‘purity’
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hreinlæti (noun n.): [purity]
Siem ‘Shem’
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Sém (noun m.): [Shem]
lofar ‘will praise’
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lofa (verb): praise, permit
fært ‘performed’
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2. fœra (verb): bring
til ‘in’
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til (prep.): to
fremdar ‘honour [of God]’
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fremð (noun f.): honour
fórnarhald ‘the observance of sacrifice’
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fórnarhald (noun n.): observance of sacrifice
um ‘’
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1. um (prep.): about, around
aldir ‘forever’
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ǫld (noun f.; °; aldir): people, age
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Stanza 43 divides neatly into couplets (fjórðungar), devoting one couplet to the virtues of each of four characters from the Biblical Book of Genesis: Abel, son of Adam and Eve, the victim of the first murder by his brother Cain; Enoch, son of Jared and great-grandfather of Noah (Gen. V.18); Noah himself and his son Shem (Gen. V-IX). The metre is an irregular, couplet-based (fjórðungalok) dróttkvætt (see Introduction above). — [7-8]: The association of Noah’s son Shem with religious observance alludes to a tradition, originally midrashic, that Shem was the same person as Melchisedech, and that there was a direct line of priesthood from Noah to Aaron, transmitted by primogeniture. Cf. Honorius Augustodunensis, Summa gloria de apostolico et augusto sive de praecellentia sacerdotii prae regno liber, ch. II (PL 172, col. 1260C). The idea goes back at least to Jerome. So far, no direct source in Old Norse has been identified.
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