Anon (FoGT) 46^III

These two stanzas, the last in FoGT, are cited to illustrate the figure called therethema (Lat. teretema), which the prose text defines as when a series of questions about the same thing is asked and replied to in the same fashion. Both stanzas are in a form of dróttkvætt called in SnSt Ht 9 sextánmælt ‘sixteen-times spoken’ (SnE 2007, 9). In the two FoGT stanzas eight questions are matched by eight replies, each pair given in a single line of verse. Sextánmælt is very similar to the verse-form called greppaminni ‘poets’ reminder’, which is exemplified both by RvHbreiðm Hl 45-6 and by SnSt Ht 40 and mentioned in FoGT in connection with the figure of epimone (see Introduction to sts 38-41). The Doctrinale does not mention teretema, but it is present in the Graecismus (Wrobel 1887, 8, ll. 86-7). Stanza 46 is probably based on a commentary on the Graecismus quoted by Björn Magnússon Ólsen (FoGT 1884, 151 n.) and demonstrates that the composer of the stanza is likely to have been familiar with it (see st. 46 Note to [All] below). Whereas the subject of st. 46 is the death of Christ and its significance for mankind, st. 47, in strikingly similar wording, refers to the death of the Norwegian king Óláfr Haraldsson at the battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030 and the implications of the saint’s death for mankind. The parallel emphasises the sanctity of the king.

Hverr deyr? Hjarðar stýrir.
Hví? Fyr sauða lífi.
Hvessu? Hiekk á krossi.
Hvar? Þar er Lassarus jarðaz.
Hvienær? Helzt að nóni.
Hverir knúðu að? Júðar.
Hverr nýtr? Heiðni bötnuð.
Hvað gieldr? Djöfuls veldi.

Hverr deyr? Stýrir hjarðar. Hví? Fyr lífi sauða. Hvessu? Hiekk á krossi. Hvar? Þar er Lassarus jarðaz. Hvienær? Helzt að nóni. Hverir knúðu að? Júðar. Hverr nýtr? Bötnuð heiðni. Hvað gieldr? Veldi djöfuls.

Who dies? The leader of the flock. Why? For the life of the sheep. How? He hung on a cross. Where? Where Lazarus is buried. When? About the ninth hour. Who instigated it? The Jews. Who gets the benefit? Heathendom is reformed. What suffers? The devil’s power.

Mss: W(119) (FoGT)

Readings: [5] Helzt: helldz W

Editions: Skj AII, 167, Skj BII, 185, Skald II, 96, NN §2494; SnE 1848-87, II, 248-9, FoGT 1884, 151, 295-6, FoGT 2004, 57, 81, 162-4, FoGT 2014, 48-9, 142-3.

Notes: [All]: The first two lines of this stanza are close to the first two questions of the example of teretema given in a commentary to the Graecismus cited by Björn Magnússon Ólsen (FoGT 1884, 151 n.): Quis moritur? praesul. Cur? pro grege ‘Who dies? The bishop. Why? For the flock’. These lines come from a poem on the murder of Thomas Becket. — [3] hvessu ‘how’: Ms. W has hversu, but all eds have followed Björn Magnússon Ólsen (FoGT 1884, 295-6) in normalising to assimilated hvessu in view of the skothending with krossu. — [4] Lassarus ‘Lazarus’: The reference is to Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Martha and Mary, whose death and resurrection by Christ is described in John XI.1-44. His revival from the dead was regarded as a foreshadowing of the resurrection of Christ and the gospel narrative was often interpreted as an illustration of the two natures of Christ as man and deity. The idea that his burial place was also the place where Christ was crucified has not been traced to a source. — [5] helzt ‘about’: Taken here (so also SnE 1848-87, II, 248 and Kock, Skald and NN §2494) with að nóni (there is a stop in the ms. before ‘helldz’). Björn Magnússon Ólsen (FoGT 1884, 295 and 296 n. 3), following Konráð Gíslason (1872, 304), proposes that the ms. punctuation is a mistake and that helzt should be understood with hvienær, as do Finnur Jónsson (Skj B, translating når omtrent ‘about when’) and Longo (FoGT 2004). The same eds construe the very close verbal parallel in st. 47/3 in the same way. — [5] að nóni ‘at the ninth hour’: At nones, about 3 p. m. Cf. Note to st. 6/2.

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. 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.
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. FoGT 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.
7. FoGT 2004 = Longo, Michele, ed. [2004]. ‘Il Quarto Trattato Grammaticale Islandese: Testo, Traduzione e Commento’. Dottorato di Ricerca in ‘Linguistica Sincronica e Diacronica’ (XV Ciclo). Palermo: Università degli Studi di Palermo, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia.
8. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Wrobel, I., ed. 1887. Eberhardi Bethuniensis Graecismus. Corpus grammaticorum medii aeui I. Bratislava: G. Koebner.
10. Konráð Gíslason. 1872. Nogle bemærkninger om skjaldedigtens beskaffenhed i formel henseende. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter, ser. 5, Historisk og philosophisk Afdeling 4/7. Copenhagen: Luno.
11. FoGT 2014 = Clunies Ross, Margaret and Jonas Wellendorf, eds. 2014. The Fourth Grammatical Treatise. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, The Fourth Grammatical Treatise’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=34> (accessed 27 April 2024)
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 45’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1053.
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 40’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1149.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 9’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1114.