Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Anon Alpost 9VII

Ian McDougall (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Allra postula minnisvísur 9’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 864-6.

Anonymous PoemsAllra postula minnisvísur
8910

blóms ‘flourishing’

(not checked:)
blóm (noun n.; °-s; -): flower

notes

[1] blóms ‘flourishing’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to blóm and reads blóm með æru as ‘with the flower of honour’. Kock (Skald) retains the ms. reading blóms and argues (NN §1760) that the form should be treated as a descriptive gen. with the same adjectival force found in similar genitival constructions with dýrðar: ‘of glory’, i.e. ‘glorious’ (see NN §§1751, 1007B, and cf. genitival compounds such as dýrðar-ástúð, -líf, -staðr, -verk; cf. Meissner 1930, 232). It is noteworthy that Finnur Jónsson’s interpretation would represent the only example in the poem where a noun is governed by a prep. in postposition. In all parallel constructions in the poem, a dependent gen. is placed first, followed by a prep. preceding the noun it governs (cf. Krist und krossi 4/5; guðs fyr stóli 9/8; guðs til ... náða 13/7). On the use of blóm in the sense ‘glory’, see Schottmann 1973, 23, 28 n. 23; Davið Erlingsson 1974, 12-18.

Close

með ‘with’

(not checked:)
með (prep.): with

Close

æru ‘honour’

(not checked:)
1. æra (noun f.; °-u): honour

Close

Bartoloméus ‘Bartholomew’

(not checked:)
Bartholomaeus (noun ?): Bartholomew

notes

[2] Bartoloméus: On S. Bartholomew the Apostle, see Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Jón Þorkelsson 1888, 67; Bagge 1956, 365-8; Widding, Bekker-Nielsen and Shook 1963, 302; Foote 1976, 164-6; Cormack 1994, 83.

Close

‘to’

(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)

Close

skarta ‘shine’

(not checked:)
skarta (verb): [shine]

Close

Indía ‘of India’

(not checked:)
Indía (noun f.): [India]

notes

[3] Indía ... á landi ‘in the land of India’: A case of tmesis, so á Indía-landi. — [3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

Indía ‘of India’

(not checked:)
Indía (noun f.): [India]

notes

[3] Indía ... á landi ‘in the land of India’: A case of tmesis, so á Indía-landi. — [3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

liet ‘He laid down’

(not checked:)
láta (verb): let, have sth done

notes

[3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

á ‘in’

(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at

notes

[3] Indía ... á landi ‘in the land of India’: A case of tmesis, so á Indía-landi. — [3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

á ‘in’

(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at

notes

[3] Indía ... á landi ‘in the land of India’: A case of tmesis, so á Indía-landi. — [3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

landi ‘the land’

(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land

notes

[3] Indía ... á landi ‘in the land of India’: A case of tmesis, so á Indía-landi. — [3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

landi ‘the land’

(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land

notes

[3] Indía ... á landi ‘in the land of India’: A case of tmesis, so á Indía-landi. — [3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

lífið ‘life’

(not checked:)
lífi (noun n.; °-s): life

notes

[3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

flegið ‘flayed’

notes

[3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

með ‘by’

(not checked:)
með (prep.): with

notes

[3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

knífi ‘a knife’

(not checked:)
knífr (noun m.; °-s dat. -i; -ar): knife

notes

[3-4] liet lífið á Indía-landi flegið með knífi ‘He laid down his life in the land of India, [his body] flayed by a knife’: The ll. may involve deliberate word-play, for they could be interpreted either ‘he left his body, flayed by a knife, in India’ or, with ellipsis of vera ‘he let his body (be) flayed with a knife’, i.e. ‘he suffered martyrdom’. At the same time, the phrase liet ... lífið suggests the sense ‘he lost his life’, although flegið clearly modifies lífið, rather than the subject of the sentence, Bartoloméus. On líf as a synonym of líkamr ‘body’, see Fritzner: líf 4. According to tradition, Bartholomew was flayed alive at Albanopolis in Armenia (cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 137; Brev. 4/14; IO 74). Norse sources regularly locate the place of Bartholomew’s martyrdom in a part of India, following accounts such as Beda, Martyrologium, col. 1015A: Natale S. Bartholomaei apostoli, qui apud Indiam Christi Evangelium praedicans, vivens a barbaris decoriatus est ‘The feast-day of the Apostle S. Bartholomew, who, preaching the gospel of Christ in India, was flayed alive by barbarians’. Cf. Barth1ˣ 752: Bartholomeus kendi kenningar a hinu yzta Indialandi, er liggr viðr heims enda. Hann var, sem fyrr er sagt, fleginn kvikr fyrir guðs nafni ‘Bartholomew preached the gospel in furthest India, which lies at the end of the world. He was, as has previously been mentioned, flayed alive in God’s name’; cf. Holm perg 5 fol, 59vb (Foote 1976, 154); AM 764 4° 16v. Although none of the many accounts of Bartholomew’s passion make specific mention of a flayer’s knife, the instrument of his martyrdom becomes Bartholomew’s standard iconographic attribute (see Braun 1943, 119-20; Kilström 1956, 175; Roeder 1956, 20), and it is not surprising to find this detail once again in the list of the fates of the Apostles in AM 660 4°, 23v (Foote, 1976, 153): Bartholomeus var pindr flegin hvdin med hnifi ok hoggvinn sidan a env yzsta Jndialandi ‘Bartholomew was tortured, his skin flayed with a knife, after which he was slain in furthest India’. It is possible that the author of Alpost drew the detail of the knife from a list such as this, although it is just as likely that both works simply record a well-known iconographic feature. The attribute figures in depictions of Bartholomew from medieval Iceland – in a picture of the saint with a knife and book on fol. 11v of the Icel. Teiknibók (c. 1420-40; Björn Th. Björnsson 1954, 87-8), and in an image on a C15th altar cloth from Hrafnagil, which depicts Bartholomew with a knife in one hand and what appears to be his flayed skin in the other (see Bagge 1956, 365-8; on these and other examples, see Foote 1976, 165-6).

Close

þann ‘that one’

(not checked:)
1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

notes

[5] þann er ‘that one who’: On use of m. acc. sg. þann as equivalent of m. nom. sg. in late texts, see ANG §469, Anm. 3; Iversen 1961, 105, Anm. 2; Fritzner: þann. — [5, 7, 8] þann er sigrar þúsund sinnum ... sæta fegri sólar ‘that one who surpasses a thousand times ... the sweet beauty of the sun’: These ll. are strikingly reminiscent of the opening ll. of a hymn sung at the feast of S. Bartholomew (24 August): Bartholomeae, caeli sidus aureum milies supra solis iubar radians... ‘Bartholomew, golden star in the sky that shines a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun...’ (AH 51, 122, no. 107, v. 6; CH, 86; DH, 109). The interjection, það er ritningar vitni ‘that is the testimony of a written text’, of course suggests that the author knew this detail from a book, but there seems to be no scriptural parallel.

Close

þann ‘that one’

(not checked:)
1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

notes

[5] þann er ‘that one who’: On use of m. acc. sg. þann as equivalent of m. nom. sg. in late texts, see ANG §469, Anm. 3; Iversen 1961, 105, Anm. 2; Fritzner: þann. — [5, 7, 8] þann er sigrar þúsund sinnum ... sæta fegri sólar ‘that one who surpasses a thousand times ... the sweet beauty of the sun’: These ll. are strikingly reminiscent of the opening ll. of a hymn sung at the feast of S. Bartholomew (24 August): Bartholomeae, caeli sidus aureum milies supra solis iubar radians... ‘Bartholomew, golden star in the sky that shines a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun...’ (AH 51, 122, no. 107, v. 6; CH, 86; DH, 109). The interjection, það er ritningar vitni ‘that is the testimony of a written text’, of course suggests that the author knew this detail from a book, but there seems to be no scriptural parallel.

Close

er ‘who’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

notes

[5] þann er ‘that one who’: On use of m. acc. sg. þann as equivalent of m. nom. sg. in late texts, see ANG §469, Anm. 3; Iversen 1961, 105, Anm. 2; Fritzner: þann. — [5, 7, 8] þann er sigrar þúsund sinnum ... sæta fegri sólar ‘that one who surpasses a thousand times ... the sweet beauty of the sun’: These ll. are strikingly reminiscent of the opening ll. of a hymn sung at the feast of S. Bartholomew (24 August): Bartholomeae, caeli sidus aureum milies supra solis iubar radians... ‘Bartholomew, golden star in the sky that shines a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun...’ (AH 51, 122, no. 107, v. 6; CH, 86; DH, 109). The interjection, það er ritningar vitni ‘that is the testimony of a written text’, of course suggests that the author knew this detail from a book, but there seems to be no scriptural parallel.

Close

er ‘who’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

notes

[5] þann er ‘that one who’: On use of m. acc. sg. þann as equivalent of m. nom. sg. in late texts, see ANG §469, Anm. 3; Iversen 1961, 105, Anm. 2; Fritzner: þann. — [5, 7, 8] þann er sigrar þúsund sinnum ... sæta fegri sólar ‘that one who surpasses a thousand times ... the sweet beauty of the sun’: These ll. are strikingly reminiscent of the opening ll. of a hymn sung at the feast of S. Bartholomew (24 August): Bartholomeae, caeli sidus aureum milies supra solis iubar radians... ‘Bartholomew, golden star in the sky that shines a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun...’ (AH 51, 122, no. 107, v. 6; CH, 86; DH, 109). The interjection, það er ritningar vitni ‘that is the testimony of a written text’, of course suggests that the author knew this detail from a book, but there seems to be no scriptural parallel.

Close

þúsund ‘a thousand’

(not checked:)
1. þúsund (noun f.; °; -ir): thousand

notes

[5, 7, 8] þann er sigrar þúsund sinnum ... sæta fegri sólar ‘that one who surpasses a thousand times ... the sweet beauty of the sun’: These ll. are strikingly reminiscent of the opening ll. of a hymn sung at the feast of S. Bartholomew (24 August): Bartholomeae, caeli sidus aureum milies supra solis iubar radians... ‘Bartholomew, golden star in the sky that shines a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun...’ (AH 51, 122, no. 107, v. 6; CH, 86; DH, 109). The interjection, það er ritningar vitni ‘that is the testimony of a written text’, of course suggests that the author knew this detail from a book, but there seems to be no scriptural parallel.

Close

sinnum ‘times’

(not checked:)
2. sinni (noun n.; °-s;): time, occasion; company, following

notes

[5, 7, 8] þann er sigrar þúsund sinnum ... sæta fegri sólar ‘that one who surpasses a thousand times ... the sweet beauty of the sun’: These ll. are strikingly reminiscent of the opening ll. of a hymn sung at the feast of S. Bartholomew (24 August): Bartholomeae, caeli sidus aureum milies supra solis iubar radians... ‘Bartholomew, golden star in the sky that shines a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun...’ (AH 51, 122, no. 107, v. 6; CH, 86; DH, 109). The interjection, það er ritningar vitni ‘that is the testimony of a written text’, of course suggests that the author knew this detail from a book, but there seems to be no scriptural parallel.

Close

ritningar ‘of a written text’

(not checked:)
ritning (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ar): writing, scripture

Close

vitni ‘the testimony’

(not checked:)
2. vitni (noun n.; °-s; -): witness

Close

sigrar ‘surpasses’

(not checked:)
sigra (verb): win, gain victory

notes

[5, 7, 8] þann er sigrar þúsund sinnum ... sæta fegri sólar ‘that one who surpasses a thousand times ... the sweet beauty of the sun’: These ll. are strikingly reminiscent of the opening ll. of a hymn sung at the feast of S. Bartholomew (24 August): Bartholomeae, caeli sidus aureum milies supra solis iubar radians... ‘Bartholomew, golden star in the sky that shines a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun...’ (AH 51, 122, no. 107, v. 6; CH, 86; DH, 109). The interjection, það er ritningar vitni ‘that is the testimony of a written text’, of course suggests that the author knew this detail from a book, but there seems to be no scriptural parallel.

Close

sæta ‘the sweet’

(not checked:)
sœtr (adj.): sweet

notes

[5, 7, 8] þann er sigrar þúsund sinnum ... sæta fegri sólar ‘that one who surpasses a thousand times ... the sweet beauty of the sun’: These ll. are strikingly reminiscent of the opening ll. of a hymn sung at the feast of S. Bartholomew (24 August): Bartholomeae, caeli sidus aureum milies supra solis iubar radians... ‘Bartholomew, golden star in the sky that shines a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun...’ (AH 51, 122, no. 107, v. 6; CH, 86; DH, 109). The interjection, það er ritningar vitni ‘that is the testimony of a written text’, of course suggests that the author knew this detail from a book, but there seems to be no scriptural parallel.

Close

fegri ‘beauty’

(not checked:)
fegri (noun f.): [beauty]

notes

[5, 7, 8] þann er sigrar þúsund sinnum ... sæta fegri sólar ‘that one who surpasses a thousand times ... the sweet beauty of the sun’: These ll. are strikingly reminiscent of the opening ll. of a hymn sung at the feast of S. Bartholomew (24 August): Bartholomeae, caeli sidus aureum milies supra solis iubar radians... ‘Bartholomew, golden star in the sky that shines a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun...’ (AH 51, 122, no. 107, v. 6; CH, 86; DH, 109). The interjection, það er ritningar vitni ‘that is the testimony of a written text’, of course suggests that the author knew this detail from a book, but there seems to be no scriptural parallel.

Close

sólar ‘of the sun’

(not checked:)
sól (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ir): sun

notes

[5, 7, 8] þann er sigrar þúsund sinnum ... sæta fegri sólar ‘that one who surpasses a thousand times ... the sweet beauty of the sun’: These ll. are strikingly reminiscent of the opening ll. of a hymn sung at the feast of S. Bartholomew (24 August): Bartholomeae, caeli sidus aureum milies supra solis iubar radians... ‘Bartholomew, golden star in the sky that shines a thousand times brighter than the rays of the sun...’ (AH 51, 122, no. 107, v. 6; CH, 86; DH, 109). The interjection, það er ritningar vitni ‘that is the testimony of a written text’, of course suggests that the author knew this detail from a book, but there seems to be no scriptural parallel.

Close

fyrir ‘before’

(not checked:)
fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of

Close

Blessi ‘bless’

(not checked:)
blessa (verb): bless

Close

hier ‘here’

(not checked:)
hér (adv.): here

Close

inni ‘in’

(not checked:)
2. inni (adv.): in, inside, indoors

Close

Bartoloméus ‘for Bartholomew’

(not checked:)
Bartholomaeus (noun ?): Bartholomew

Close

minni ‘a memorial toast’

(not checked:)
1. minni (noun n.; °-s; -): memory

Close

Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.