Anon Lil 33VII
Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 33’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 601-2.
Fimm ‘Five’
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fimm (num. cardinal): five
mánuðum ‘months’
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mánuðr (noun m.; °-aðar; -aðir/-uðir): month
notes
[1]: The rhyme is between -uð- and síð-.
og ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
[1] og: so 99a, 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892, om. Bb
fjórum ‘four’
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fjórir (num. cardinal): four
notes
[1]: The rhyme is between -uð- and síð-.
fæddiz ‘was born’
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2. fœða (verb): to feed, give food to, bring up, bear, give birth to
[2] fæddiz: so 99a, 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892, ‘fædizt’ Bb
sveinn ‘a boy’
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sveinn (noun m.; °sveins; sveinar): boy, servant, attendant
[2] sveinn: sveirn 41 8°ˣ
af ‘of’
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af (prep.): from
meyju ‘maiden’
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mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden
hreinni ‘the pure’
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2. hreinn (adj.; °compar. hreinari/hreinni, superl. hreinastr/hreinstr): pure
[2] hreinni: hreinri Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892
skygnast ‘the clearest’
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skyggn (adj.): clear, sharp-sighted
sem ‘just as’
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sem (conj.): as, which
þá ‘’
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2. þá (adv.): then
[3] þá er: so 705ˣ, þar Bb, þá 99a, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892, það 622, þær 713
er ‘when’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
[3] þá er: so 705ˣ, þar Bb, þá 99a, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892, það 622, þær 713
glerið ‘glass’
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gler (noun n.): glass
gegnum ‘through’
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gegnum (prep.): through
brár ‘breaks’
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bregða (verb; °bregðr/brigðr; brá, brugðu; brugðinn/brogðinn): pull, jerk, break; change
[4] brár: ‘b[...]z’ 622
fyrir ‘before’
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fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of
augum ‘eyes’
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auga (noun n.; °auga; augu/augun, gen. augna): eye
sól ‘sun’
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sól (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ir): sun
glerinu ‘glass’
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gler (noun n.): glass
hreinu ‘’
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2. hreinn (adj.; °compar. hreinari/hreinni, superl. hreinastr/hreinstr): pure
heilu ‘intact’
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3. heill (adj.; °heilan; compar. heilli, superl. -astr/-str): healthy, hale, hail
[5] heilu: hreinu 622
jóðið ‘boy’
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jóð (noun n.): child, offspring
[6] jóðið: jóð það 99a, jóð er 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892, jóð svá 705ˣ
skein ‘’
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skína (verb): shine
af ‘from’
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af (prep.): from
móður ‘the mother’
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móðir (noun f.): mother
að ‘’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
notes
[7] að innsigli … höldnu ‘the seal … having been preserved’: The construction að + passive part. of halda in the dat. has the effect of an ablative absolute: see NS §246b.
innsigli ‘the seal’
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innsigli (noun n.): [seal]
notes
[7] að innsigli … höldnu ‘the seal … having been preserved’: The construction að + passive part. of halda in the dat. has the effect of an ablative absolute: see NS §246b. — [7-8] innsigli hreinferðugstra greina meydóms hennar ‘the seal of the purest marks of her virginity’: Note the echo of the Lat. epithet sigilla pudoris ‘seal of chastity’ (Schottmann 1973, 196; cf. the sequence Si crystallus cited above).
innsigli ‘the seal’
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innsigli (noun n.): [seal]
notes
[7] að innsigli … höldnu ‘the seal … having been preserved’: The construction að + passive part. of halda in the dat. has the effect of an ablative absolute: see NS §246b. — [7-8] innsigli hreinferðugstra greina meydóms hennar ‘the seal of the purest marks of her virginity’: Note the echo of the Lat. epithet sigilla pudoris ‘seal of chastity’ (Schottmann 1973, 196; cf. the sequence Si crystallus cited above).
höldnu ‘having been preserved’
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halda (verb): hold, keep
[7] höldnu: hold mun Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892
notes
[7] að innsigli … höldnu ‘the seal … having been preserved’: The construction að + passive part. of halda in the dat. has the effect of an ablative absolute: see NS §246b.
hennar ‘of her’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
notes
[7-8] innsigli hreinferðugstra greina meydóms hennar ‘the seal of the purest marks of her virginity’: Note the echo of the Lat. epithet sigilla pudoris ‘seal of chastity’ (Schottmann 1973, 196; cf. the sequence Si crystallus cited above).
hrein ‘purest’
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2. hreinn (adj.; °compar. hreinari/hreinni, superl. hreinastr/hreinstr): pure < hreinferðugr (adj.)
notes
[7-8] innsigli hreinferðugstra greina meydóms hennar ‘the seal of the purest marks of her virginity’: Note the echo of the Lat. epithet sigilla pudoris ‘seal of chastity’ (Schottmann 1973, 196; cf. the sequence Si crystallus cited above).
ferðugstra ‘of the’
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ferðugr (adj.): wellbeing < hreinferðugr (adj.)
[8] ‑ferðugstra: ‑ferðugr 99a, ‑ferðug í 622, ‑ferðugra 713, 4892, ‑ferðugust Vb, 41 8°ˣ, ‑ferðugustu 705ˣ
notes
[7-8] innsigli hreinferðugstra greina meydóms hennar ‘the seal of the purest marks of her virginity’: Note the echo of the Lat. epithet sigilla pudoris ‘seal of chastity’ (Schottmann 1973, 196; cf. the sequence Si crystallus cited above).
mey ‘virgin’
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mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden < meydómr (noun m.): maidenhood, virginity
notes
[7-8] innsigli hreinferðugstra greina meydóms hennar ‘the seal of the purest marks of her virginity’: Note the echo of the Lat. epithet sigilla pudoris ‘seal of chastity’ (Schottmann 1973, 196; cf. the sequence Si crystallus cited above).
dóms ‘ity’
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dómr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): judgement; court; -dom, -ness (suffix) < meydómr (noun m.): maidenhood, virginity
notes
[7-8] innsigli hreinferðugstra greina meydóms hennar ‘the seal of the purest marks of her virginity’: Note the echo of the Lat. epithet sigilla pudoris ‘seal of chastity’ (Schottmann 1973, 196; cf. the sequence Si crystallus cited above).
notes
[7-8] innsigli hreinferðugstra greina meydóms hennar ‘the seal of the purest marks of her virginity’: Note the echo of the Lat. epithet sigilla pudoris ‘seal of chastity’ (Schottmann 1973, 196; cf. the sequence Si crystallus cited above).
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It is significant that the birth of Jesus is reported in st. 33: thirty-three was believed to be the age of Jesus when he died and was regarded as a sacred number (Curtius 1953, 505; Tschirch 1966, 167-87). It is likewise significant that the section on the life of Jesus concludes thirty-three sts later in st. 66 (Hill 1970, 564). The image of the Incarnation as a sunbeam shining through glass is a commonplace in medieval homiletic and liturgical literature. It occurs in both the Icel. and Norw. homily books (HómÍsl 1993, 3r-v; HómNo, 133), as well as in the ON poem Rósa (ÍM I.2, 20, st. 64) where the simile emphasizes the Divinity shining through and pervading Mary’s transparent humanity. There is a closer parallel to Lil in Mar 1871, 28: Dróttinn kom at vera með móþur sinni at luktum kviði ok óbrugðnum liðum ... sem þá er hugr líðr or briósti mannz at samanhölldnum ok luktum munni ok óbrugðnum vörrum, eða sólar geisli skínn í gegnum rauflaust gler. ‘the Lord came to be with his mother in her closed womb and with her virginity intact ... as when a thought goes forth from a man’s breast, though his mouth is closed and his lips are not used, or as when a ray of sunlight shines through glass that remains intact’. In the first book of S. Birgitta’s Revelations (c. 1340). Jesus says to Birgitta: Ego sum creator celi et terre, unus in deitate cum Patre et Spiritu sancto, ego, qui prophetis et patriarchis loquebar et quem ipsi expectabant. Ob quorum desiderium et iuxta promissionem meam assumpsi carnem sine peccato et concupiscencia ingrediens viscera virginea tamquam sol splendens per lapidem mundissimum. Quia sicut sol vitrum ingrediendo non ledit, sic nec virginitas Virginis in assumpcione humanitatis mee corrupta est ‘I am the Creator of heaven and earth, one in divinity with the Father and the Holy Spirit, I, who the prophets and patriarchs proclaimed and who they awaited. Because of their longing and according to my promise, I took on flesh without sin or concupiscence and entered the virgin womb like the sun shining through pure crystal. Because just as sun passes through glass and does not harm it, the virginity of the Virgin was not destroyed by her assumption of my humanity’ (Undhagen and Jönsson 1977-2001, I.1, 241) Splendor Patris et Figura, a sequence attributed to Adam of S.-Victor, contains the verse: Si crystallus sit humecta / Atque soli sit objecta, / Scintillat igniculum: / Nec crystallus rumpitur, / Nec in partu solvitur / Pudoris signaculum ‘If crystal should be moist and placed in the sun, a spark flashes. But the crystal is not shattered, and neither is the seal of chastity [or the chaste one] broken in giving birth’ (Gautier 1894, 10; AH 54,154). Cf. also the hymn by Peter Pictor: Lumen lucens Patris de lumine / Christus homo prodit de Virgine, / Sic ingressus et egressus per aulam uirgineam / Vt sol splendens nec incendens per fenestram uitream, / Cum nec uitrum splendor solis / Neque matrem causa prolis / Violet ingrediens / Nec corrumpat exiens ‘Light illuminating with the light of the Father, Christ the man was born of the Virgin, his entry and his going out of the virginal hall was as sunlight shining through a glass window, but not disturbing it. For just as the splendor of the sun neither violates glass as it enters, nor breaks it as it leaves, so it is with the offspring and the mother’ (van Acker 1972, 119; AH 20, 121). The hymn Sol, crystallus by Hildebert of Lavardin (Scott 2001, 54-5) develops this theme extensively, and John Bromyard discusses it in his widely circulated Summa Praedicantium (Bromyard 1518, 199v-200r).
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