Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 35’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 604-5.
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
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svá (adv.): so, thus
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ríkr (adj.): mighty, powerful, rich
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4. at (conj.): that
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reif (noun f.; °; -ar): swaddling clothes
[1] reifa: reifum 622, 713, 4892
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ræsir (noun m.): ruler
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
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3. rjóðr (adj.): red
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ríkr (adj.): mighty, powerful, rich
[2] ríkust: rjóðust 622, ræsirs Vb, 41 8°ˣ, rét lát 4892
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móðir (noun f.): mother
[2] móðir: móðirin 99a, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, móðir þó 622, móðir er 4892
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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
[2] ætti: átti 713, 4892
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því (adv.): therefore, because
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kóngr (noun m.): king
[3] kóngrinn: kóngrinn annað 41 8°ˣ, kongr 4892
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harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh
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hey (noun n.; °-s, dat. heyvi/heyi/hey; -, gen. heyja): hay
[3] heyvi: heyi 99a, 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892
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2. hylja (verb): to bury, cover, inhume
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mega (verb): may, might
[4] mætti: mætti hann Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892, mætti 705ˣ
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forða (verb): escape, avoid
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2. firra (verb): keep (from), remove
[4] firraz: forðaz Vb, 41 8°ˣ
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1. um (prep.): about, around < umsniðning (noun f.): [circumcision]
[5] Umsníðningar: umsníðingar 99a, 622, 705ˣ, umsníðing á Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892
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-sniðning (noun f.): [circumcision] < umsniðning (noun f.): [circumcision]
[5] Umsníðningar: umsníðingar 99a, 622, 705ˣ, umsníðing á Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892
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prýði (noun f.): finery, honour
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dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹n.); -ar): day
[6] dagr: dag 713, 4892
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3. at (prep.): at, to
[6] að: so 622, 713, 705ˣ, 4892, er Bb, frá 99a, Vb, 41 8°ˣ
[6] að ‘after’: One of the latest examples of this prep. used with acc. to mean ‘after’ (JH).
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fœðing (noun f.): birth
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vátta (verb): affirm, attest
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2. geysa (verb): surge
[7] æsiz blóð á líkam ljósan ‘blood spurts over the bright body’: The shedding of his blood when Jesus was circumcised was traditionally thought to prefigure his Passion. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi of Iohannis de Caulibus: Secundum quod hodie factum fuit, eciam quia incepit Dominus Iesus suum sacratissimum sanguinem pro nobis effundere. Tempestiue enim cepit pro nobis pati. Qui peccatum non fecit pro nobis penam hodie portare incepit ... Audis et hodie quia sanguinem suum fudit. Fuit enim caro ipsius cum cultello lapideo a matre incisa. Nonne ergo campati debet ei? ‘Today our Lord Jesus began shedding his most sacred blood for us, for he very early began to suffer for us. He who committed no sin himself, today began paying its penalty for us … You hear also that he shed his blood today; for his flesh was cut by his mother with a little stone knife. Is it not fitting to suffer along with him?’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 37-8; Taney 2000, 30).
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blóð (noun n.; °-s): blood
[7] æsiz blóð á líkam ljósan ‘blood spurts over the bright body’: The shedding of his blood when Jesus was circumcised was traditionally thought to prefigure his Passion. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi of Iohannis de Caulibus: Secundum quod hodie factum fuit, eciam quia incepit Dominus Iesus suum sacratissimum sanguinem pro nobis effundere. Tempestiue enim cepit pro nobis pati. Qui peccatum non fecit pro nobis penam hodie portare incepit ... Audis et hodie quia sanguinem suum fudit. Fuit enim caro ipsius cum cultello lapideo a matre incisa. Nonne ergo campati debet ei? ‘Today our Lord Jesus began shedding his most sacred blood for us, for he very early began to suffer for us. He who committed no sin himself, today began paying its penalty for us … You hear also that he shed his blood today; for his flesh was cut by his mother with a little stone knife. Is it not fitting to suffer along with him?’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 37-8; Taney 2000, 30).
[7] æsiz blóð á líkam ljósan ‘blood spurts over the bright body’: The shedding of his blood when Jesus was circumcised was traditionally thought to prefigure his Passion. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi of Iohannis de Caulibus: Secundum quod hodie factum fuit, eciam quia incepit Dominus Iesus suum sacratissimum sanguinem pro nobis effundere. Tempestiue enim cepit pro nobis pati. Qui peccatum non fecit pro nobis penam hodie portare incepit ... Audis et hodie quia sanguinem suum fudit. Fuit enim caro ipsius cum cultello lapideo a matre incisa. Nonne ergo campati debet ei? ‘Today our Lord Jesus began shedding his most sacred blood for us, for he very early began to suffer for us. He who committed no sin himself, today began paying its penalty for us … You hear also that he shed his blood today; for his flesh was cut by his mother with a little stone knife. Is it not fitting to suffer along with him?’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 37-8; Taney 2000, 30).
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líkamr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -/-i; -ir): body
[7] líkam: líkama 705ˣ, líkaman 4892
[7] æsiz blóð á líkam ljósan ‘blood spurts over the bright body’: The shedding of his blood when Jesus was circumcised was traditionally thought to prefigure his Passion. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi of Iohannis de Caulibus: Secundum quod hodie factum fuit, eciam quia incepit Dominus Iesus suum sacratissimum sanguinem pro nobis effundere. Tempestiue enim cepit pro nobis pati. Qui peccatum non fecit pro nobis penam hodie portare incepit ... Audis et hodie quia sanguinem suum fudit. Fuit enim caro ipsius cum cultello lapideo a matre incisa. Nonne ergo campati debet ei? ‘Today our Lord Jesus began shedding his most sacred blood for us, for he very early began to suffer for us. He who committed no sin himself, today began paying its penalty for us … You hear also that he shed his blood today; for his flesh was cut by his mother with a little stone knife. Is it not fitting to suffer along with him?’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 37-8; Taney 2000, 30).
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ljóss (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): bright
[7] æsiz blóð á líkam ljósan ‘blood spurts over the bright body’: The shedding of his blood when Jesus was circumcised was traditionally thought to prefigure his Passion. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi of Iohannis de Caulibus: Secundum quod hodie factum fuit, eciam quia incepit Dominus Iesus suum sacratissimum sanguinem pro nobis effundere. Tempestiue enim cepit pro nobis pati. Qui peccatum non fecit pro nobis penam hodie portare incepit ... Audis et hodie quia sanguinem suum fudit. Fuit enim caro ipsius cum cultello lapideo a matre incisa. Nonne ergo campati debet ei? ‘Today our Lord Jesus began shedding his most sacred blood for us, for he very early began to suffer for us. He who committed no sin himself, today began paying its penalty for us … You hear also that he shed his blood today; for his flesh was cut by his mother with a little stone knife. Is it not fitting to suffer along with him?’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 37-8; Taney 2000, 30).
[8] minnilig tár lagaz af kinnum ‘memorable tears run down his cheeks’: Minniligr can mean both ‘memorable, i.e. worthy of memory’, or ‘loving’ (see Fritzner: minniligr). The context here suggests that the emphasis is on remembering and meditating on the event. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi of Iohannis de Caulibus: Plorauit ergo puer Iesus hodie propter dolorem quem sensit in carne sua; nam ueram carnem et passibilem habuit sicut ceteri homines ... Et sic faciebat quocies plorabat; quod forte sepe puerorum more faciebat ad ostendendam miseriam nature humane quam uere assumpserat, et ad occultandum se, ne a demonio cognosceretur. Cantat namque de ipso Ecclesia: Vagit infans inter arcta, etc. ‘The boy Jesus cried out today because of the pain which he felt in his flesh; for he had real flesh subject to pain just as other people … That was something he would perhaps often do, to show the misery of the human nature he had truly taken on and to conceal his true identity, lest he be recognized by the devil. For the Church sings of him, “within the confines of his crib the little infant cries plaintively”, etc.’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 38; Taney 2000, 30-1).
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inniligr (adj.): beloved
[8] minnilig tár lagaz af kinnum ‘memorable tears run down his cheeks’: Minniligr can mean both ‘memorable, i.e. worthy of memory’, or ‘loving’ (see Fritzner: minniligr). The context here suggests that the emphasis is on remembering and meditating on the event. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi of Iohannis de Caulibus: Plorauit ergo puer Iesus hodie propter dolorem quem sensit in carne sua; nam ueram carnem et passibilem habuit sicut ceteri homines ... Et sic faciebat quocies plorabat; quod forte sepe puerorum more faciebat ad ostendendam miseriam nature humane quam uere assumpserat, et ad occultandum se, ne a demonio cognosceretur. Cantat namque de ipso Ecclesia: Vagit infans inter arcta, etc. ‘The boy Jesus cried out today because of the pain which he felt in his flesh; for he had real flesh subject to pain just as other people … That was something he would perhaps often do, to show the misery of the human nature he had truly taken on and to conceal his true identity, lest he be recognized by the devil. For the Church sings of him, “within the confines of his crib the little infant cries plaintively”, etc.’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 38; Taney 2000, 30-1).
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tár (noun n.; °; -): tear
[8] minnilig tár lagaz af kinnum ‘memorable tears run down his cheeks’: Minniligr can mean both ‘memorable, i.e. worthy of memory’, or ‘loving’ (see Fritzner: minniligr). The context here suggests that the emphasis is on remembering and meditating on the event. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi of Iohannis de Caulibus: Plorauit ergo puer Iesus hodie propter dolorem quem sensit in carne sua; nam ueram carnem et passibilem habuit sicut ceteri homines ... Et sic faciebat quocies plorabat; quod forte sepe puerorum more faciebat ad ostendendam miseriam nature humane quam uere assumpserat, et ad occultandum se, ne a demonio cognosceretur. Cantat namque de ipso Ecclesia: Vagit infans inter arcta, etc. ‘The boy Jesus cried out today because of the pain which he felt in his flesh; for he had real flesh subject to pain just as other people … That was something he would perhaps often do, to show the misery of the human nature he had truly taken on and to conceal his true identity, lest he be recognized by the devil. For the Church sings of him, “within the confines of his crib the little infant cries plaintively”, etc.’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 38; Taney 2000, 30-1).
[8] minnilig tár lagaz af kinnum ‘memorable tears run down his cheeks’: Minniligr can mean both ‘memorable, i.e. worthy of memory’, or ‘loving’ (see Fritzner: minniligr). The context here suggests that the emphasis is on remembering and meditating on the event. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi of Iohannis de Caulibus: Plorauit ergo puer Iesus hodie propter dolorem quem sensit in carne sua; nam ueram carnem et passibilem habuit sicut ceteri homines ... Et sic faciebat quocies plorabat; quod forte sepe puerorum more faciebat ad ostendendam miseriam nature humane quam uere assumpserat, et ad occultandum se, ne a demonio cognosceretur. Cantat namque de ipso Ecclesia: Vagit infans inter arcta, etc. ‘The boy Jesus cried out today because of the pain which he felt in his flesh; for he had real flesh subject to pain just as other people … That was something he would perhaps often do, to show the misery of the human nature he had truly taken on and to conceal his true identity, lest he be recognized by the devil. For the Church sings of him, “within the confines of his crib the little infant cries plaintively”, etc.’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 38; Taney 2000, 30-1).
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kinn (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; kinnr/kiðr): cheek
[8] minnilig tár lagaz af kinnum ‘memorable tears run down his cheeks’: Minniligr can mean both ‘memorable, i.e. worthy of memory’, or ‘loving’ (see Fritzner: minniligr). The context here suggests that the emphasis is on remembering and meditating on the event. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi of Iohannis de Caulibus: Plorauit ergo puer Iesus hodie propter dolorem quem sensit in carne sua; nam ueram carnem et passibilem habuit sicut ceteri homines ... Et sic faciebat quocies plorabat; quod forte sepe puerorum more faciebat ad ostendendam miseriam nature humane quam uere assumpserat, et ad occultandum se, ne a demonio cognosceretur. Cantat namque de ipso Ecclesia: Vagit infans inter arcta, etc. ‘The boy Jesus cried out today because of the pain which he felt in his flesh; for he had real flesh subject to pain just as other people … That was something he would perhaps often do, to show the misery of the human nature he had truly taken on and to conceal his true identity, lest he be recognized by the devil. For the Church sings of him, “within the confines of his crib the little infant cries plaintively”, etc.’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 38; Taney 2000, 30-1).
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Yet the richest mother was not so rich that she had good swaddling clothes; therefore the king was covered with harsh hay, so that he could be kept from the cold. The eighth day after the birth shows the glory of Jesus’ circumcision; blood spurts over the bright body; memorable tears run down his cheeks.
The story of Jesus’ Circumcision is told in Luke II.21. In Vb, 41ˣ, and 4892, ll. 1-4 of st. 35 follow ll. 1-4 of st. 34, followed by ll. 5-8 of st. 34 and ll. 5-8 of st. 35. — [1]: The rhyme is between þó v- and reif- (JH).
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