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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Ekúl Kristdr 2III

Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Eilífr kúlnasveinn, Kristsdrápa 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 132.

Eilífr kúlnasveinnKristsdrápa
123

Hirð ‘retinue’

(not checked:)
hirð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-ar(FskB— 53‡)): retinue

kennings

Hrein hirð dýrðar himna
‘The pure retinue of the glory of the heavens ’
   = ANGELS

The pure retinue of the glory of the heavens → ANGELS

notes

[1-2] hrein hirð dýrðar himna ‘the pure retinue of the glory of the heavens [ANGELS]’: The phrase dýrðar himna ‘of the glory of the heavens’ is not interpreted as a kenning here, but simply as a periphrasis for heaven, as in Anon Lil 14/2VII, 34/7VII and 68/8VII. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) links dýrðar with môtt (l. 3), but this produces a strained syntax which also violates the couplet structure repeated from st. 1. Kock (NN §§2112B, 2990K) points out parallels to dýrðar himna ‘of the glory of the heavens’ in Anon LilVII (see above) and draws attention to the angel-kenning drótt dýrðar ‘the company of glory’ in Gamlkan Has 36/1-2VII.

Close

lýtr ‘bows’

(not checked:)
1. lúta (verb): (strong)

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himna ‘of the heavens’

(not checked:)
himinn (noun m.; °himins, dat. himni; himnar): heaven, sky

kennings

Hrein hirð dýrðar himna
‘The pure retinue of the glory of the heavens ’
   = ANGELS

The pure retinue of the glory of the heavens → ANGELS

notes

[1-2] hrein hirð dýrðar himna ‘the pure retinue of the glory of the heavens [ANGELS]’: The phrase dýrðar himna ‘of the glory of the heavens’ is not interpreted as a kenning here, but simply as a periphrasis for heaven, as in Anon Lil 14/2VII, 34/7VII and 68/8VII. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) links dýrðar with môtt (l. 3), but this produces a strained syntax which also violates the couplet structure repeated from st. 1. Kock (NN §§2112B, 2990K) points out parallels to dýrðar himna ‘of the glory of the heavens’ in Anon LilVII (see above) and draws attention to the angel-kenning drótt dýrðar ‘the company of glory’ in Gamlkan Has 36/1-2VII.

Close

dýrðar ‘of the glory’

(not checked:)
dýrð (noun f.; °-ar/-a(NoDipl(1279) 44²ˆ); -ir): glory

kennings

Hrein hirð dýrðar himna
‘The pure retinue of the glory of the heavens ’
   = ANGELS

The pure retinue of the glory of the heavens → ANGELS

notes

[1-2] hrein hirð dýrðar himna ‘the pure retinue of the glory of the heavens [ANGELS]’: The phrase dýrðar himna ‘of the glory of the heavens’ is not interpreted as a kenning here, but simply as a periphrasis for heaven, as in Anon Lil 14/2VII, 34/7VII and 68/8VII. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) links dýrðar with môtt (l. 3), but this produces a strained syntax which also violates the couplet structure repeated from st. 1. Kock (NN §§2112B, 2990K) points out parallels to dýrðar himna ‘of the glory of the heavens’ in Anon LilVII (see above) and draws attention to the angel-kenning drótt dýrðar ‘the company of glory’ in Gamlkan Has 36/1-2VII.

Close

hrein ‘The pure’

(not checked:)
2. hreinn (adj.; °compar. hreinari/hreinni, superl. hreinastr/hreinstr): pure

[2] hrein: hreinn W, U

kennings

Hrein hirð dýrðar himna
‘The pure retinue of the glory of the heavens ’
   = ANGELS

The pure retinue of the glory of the heavens → ANGELS

notes

[1-2] hrein hirð dýrðar himna ‘the pure retinue of the glory of the heavens [ANGELS]’: The phrase dýrðar himna ‘of the glory of the heavens’ is not interpreted as a kenning here, but simply as a periphrasis for heaven, as in Anon Lil 14/2VII, 34/7VII and 68/8VII. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) links dýrðar with môtt (l. 3), but this produces a strained syntax which also violates the couplet structure repeated from st. 1. Kock (NN §§2112B, 2990K) points out parallels to dýrðar himna ‘of the glory of the heavens’ in Anon LilVII (see above) and draws attention to the angel-kenning drótt dýrðar ‘the company of glory’ in Gamlkan Has 36/1-2VII.

Close

Máríu ‘of Mary’

(not checked:)
María (noun f.): Mary

kennings

sveini Máríu;
‘to the son of Mary; ’
   = Christ

to the son of Mary; → Christ
Close

sveini ‘to the son’

(not checked:)
sveinn (noun m.; °sveins; sveinar): boy, servant, attendant

kennings

sveini Máríu;
‘to the son of Mary; ’
   = Christ

to the son of Mary; → Christ
Close

viðr ‘achieves’

(not checked:)
2. viða (verb): gain, bring about

[3] viðr: vinnr W, A, verr U

notes

[3] viðr ‘achieves’: Older form of the 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. vinnr (so W, A) of vinna ‘perform, work, achieve, accomplish’. Ms. U reads verr ‘defends, protects’, which is less good a meaning in this context.

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mildingr ‘the prince’

(not checked:)
mildingr (noun m.; °-s): ruler, generous one

[3] mildingr: so U, A, milding R, Tˣ, W

kennings

mildingr dróttar
‘the prince of the host ’
   = God

the prince of the host → God
Close

dróttar ‘of the host’

(not checked:)
1. drótt (noun f.): troop

kennings

mildingr dróttar
‘the prince of the host ’
   = God

the prince of the host → God
Close

maðr ‘man ’

(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person

Close

ok ‘and’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

Close

goð ‘God’

(not checked:)
1. guð (noun m.; °***guðrs, guðis, gus): (Christian) God

[4] goð: so all others, goð ok R

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

This helmingr follows immediately upon st. 1, with the introductory words Máríu sonr, enn sem Eilífr kvað ‘Son of Mary, as Eilífr said further’.

The scene represented here may be one of Christ in Majesty; once again, the poet may have been thinking of a visual image. There is a very skilful and surely deliberate variation on much of the vocabulary of st. 1 here with the repetition of lýtr (1/1, 2/1), dýrð/dýrðar (1/3, 2/1), sannr/sannan (1/3, 2/4) and hreinni/hrein (1/4, 2/2).

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