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.
Hirð lýtr himna dýrðar
hrein Máríu sveini;
môtt viðr mildingr dróttar
— maðrs hann ok goð — sannan.
{Hrein hirð dýrðar himna} lýtr {sveini Máríu}; {mildingr dróttar} viðr sannan môtt; hann [e]s maðr ok goð.
{The pure retinue of the glory of the heavens} [ANGELS] bows {to the son of Mary} [= Christ]; {the prince of the host} [= God (= Christ)] achieves true power; he is man and God.
Mss: R(35v), Tˣ(37r), W(80-81), U(34v), A(12r) (SnE)
Readings: [2] hrein: hreinn W, U [3] viðr: vinnr W, A, verr U; mildingr: so U, A, milding R, Tˣ, W [4] goð: so all others, goð ok R
Editions: Skj AI, 572, Skj BI, 565, Skald I, 274, NN §§1214, 2112B, 2990K; SnE 1848-87, I, 448-9, II, 334, 445, III, 90, SnE 1931, 159, SnE 1998, I, 77.
Context: This helmingr follows immediately upon st. 1, with the introductory words Máríu sonr, enn sem Eilífr kvað ‘Son of Mary, as Eilífr said further’.
Notes: [All]: 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). — [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. — [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.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
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.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.