Anon Lil 39VII
Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 39’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 608-9.
Undaz ‘’
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unda (verb): wound
tók ‘was’
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2. taka (verb): take
inn ‘The’
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2. inn (art.): the
forni ‘old’
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forn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): ancient, old
fjandi ‘fiend’
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fjándi (noun m.; °-a; fjándr/fjándar/fjándir): enemy, devil
fæddan ‘at the newborn’
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2. fœða (verb): to feed, give food to, bring up, bear, give birth to
mann ‘man’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
slíkt ‘’
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2. slíkr (adj.): such
skilja ‘from understanding’
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1. skilja (verb): separate, understand
[2] skilja: slíkt 622, skilið 713, 4892
bannað ‘prohibited’
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2. banna (verb; °-að-): forbid, refuse
nú ‘’
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nú (adv.): now
uggði ‘’
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ugga (verb): to fear, suspect
notes
[3] og ‘and’: The rhyme is between og þ- and segð-. Cf. ok þ- : teygð- 18/3 and gef- : hef- 23/8 (JH; Nj 1875-8, II, 950).
sem ‘as if’
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sem (conj.): as, which
audinn ‘’
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auðinn (adj.; °compar. auðnari): fated, decreed
segði ‘spoke’
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segja (verb): say, tell
orðin ‘words’
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orð (noun n.; °-s; -): word
slík ‘like these’
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2. slíkr (adj.): such
af ‘with’
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af (prep.): from
tungu ‘his tongue’
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tunga (noun f.; °-u; -ur): tongue, language
forðum ‘long ago’
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forðum (adv.): formerly, once
mier ‘to me’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
sem ‘that’
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sem (conj.): as, which
nýjung ‘new thing’
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nýjung (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ar): [new thing]
notes
[5] nökkur nýjung ‘some new thing’: Schottmann (1973, 201) suggests that this is a translation of Lucifer’s exclamation in the homily of Maximus cited above: angeli … annuntiant, quam non intelligo novitatem ‘the angels ... announce something new, which I do not understand’ (Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia XXXVII, col. 305).
nökkur ‘some’
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nøkkurr (pron.): some, a certain
notes
[5] nökkur nýjung ‘some new thing’: Schottmann (1973, 201) suggests that this is a translation of Lucifer’s exclamation in the homily of Maximus cited above: angeli … annuntiant, quam non intelligo novitatem ‘the angels ... announce something new, which I do not understand’ (Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia XXXVII, col. 305).
nálgiz ‘draws near’
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nálga (verb): [draws near]
heim ‘to the world’
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heimr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): home, abode; world
og ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
[6] og: so 99a, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892, eða Bb, 713, um 622
ættir ‘families’
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1. ætt (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): family
kennings
ættir beima;‘families of men; ’
= MANKIND
families of men; → MANKIND
beima ‘of men’
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beimi (noun m.; °; -ar): man
kennings
ættir beima;‘families of men; ’
= MANKIND
families of men; → MANKIND
notes
[6] beima ‘of men’: Snorri Sturluson gives an explanation of this heiti: beimar: svá hétu þeir er fylgðu Beimuna konungi ‘those who followed King Beimuni were called beimar’ (SnE 1998, I, 105). He later identifies Beimuni as a sea-king (SnE 1998, I, 109, st. 412 and 110, st. 416).
eitthvað ‘something’
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einhverr (pron.; °dat. ·hverjum; gen. ·hverra): a certain
klókt ‘clever’
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klókr (adj.; °comp. -ari, superl. -astr): clever, profound
notes
[7] klókt ‘clever’: Cf. the same word in 4/2 where it is used (disparagingly) of traditional skalds.
mun ‘will’
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munu (verb): will, must
drottinn ‘the Lord’
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dróttinn (noun m.; °dróttins, dat. dróttni (drottini [$1049$]); dróttnar): lord, master
dikta ‘be devising’
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dikta (verb; °-að-): devise, deliberate
notes
[7] dikta ‘to create, devise’: The word has many connotations, from the base meaning ‘compose, formulate in writing’ to ‘create, bring forth’, with specific reference to God’s act of creation. See ONP for examples. Here, the situation is ironic: Lucifer uses the word sarcastically with negative connotations, and he is unaware of the truth of his statement and its implications. The phrase dikta eitthvat klókt ‘devise something clever’ may cast light on the poet’s opinion of traditional skaldic poetry expressed in st. 4.
duldr ‘ignorant’
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dylja (verb; °dulði; dulðr/duliðr/dulinn (præs. sg. 3. pers. dyll Hirð 401²³, etc., dyl FrostKrᴵ 152¹⁹, etc.)): conceal
notes
[8] eg em duldr, því að ferr af huldu ‘I am ignorant, because it is being kept secret’: Bb’s reading requires duldr to be understood without an object. Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 622 and several other mss: duldr em ek þess, þat ferr af huldu ‘it is hidden from me [and] takes place in secret’.
em ‘am’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
[8] em: er 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892
notes
[8] eg em duldr, því að ferr af huldu ‘I am ignorant, because it is being kept secret’: Bb’s reading requires duldr to be understood without an object. Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 622 and several other mss: duldr em ek þess, þat ferr af huldu ‘it is hidden from me [and] takes place in secret’.
eg ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
notes
[8] eg em duldr, því að ferr af huldu ‘I am ignorant, because it is being kept secret’: Bb’s reading requires duldr to be understood without an object. Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 622 and several other mss: duldr em ek þess, þat ferr af huldu ‘it is hidden from me [and] takes place in secret’.
því ‘because’
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því (adv.): therefore, because
[8] því: það 99a, 705ˣ, þess 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892
notes
[8] eg em duldr, því að ferr af huldu ‘I am ignorant, because it is being kept secret’: Bb’s reading requires duldr to be understood without an object. Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 622 and several other mss: duldr em ek þess, þat ferr af huldu ‘it is hidden from me [and] takes place in secret’.
notes
[8] eg em duldr, því að ferr af huldu ‘I am ignorant, because it is being kept secret’: Bb’s reading requires duldr to be understood without an object. Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 622 and several other mss: duldr em ek þess, þat ferr af huldu ‘it is hidden from me [and] takes place in secret’.
ferr ‘it is being kept’
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
notes
[8] eg em duldr, því að ferr af huldu ‘I am ignorant, because it is being kept secret’: Bb’s reading requires duldr to be understood without an object. Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 622 and several other mss: duldr em ek þess, þat ferr af huldu ‘it is hidden from me [and] takes place in secret’.
notes
[8] eg em duldr, því að ferr af huldu ‘I am ignorant, because it is being kept secret’: Bb’s reading requires duldr to be understood without an object. Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 622 and several other mss: duldr em ek þess, þat ferr af huldu ‘it is hidden from me [and] takes place in secret’.
huldu ‘secret’
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2. hylja (verb): to bury, cover, inhume
notes
[8] eg em duldr, því að ferr af huldu ‘I am ignorant, because it is being kept secret’: Bb’s reading requires duldr to be understood without an object. Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 622 and several other mss: duldr em ek þess, þat ferr af huldu ‘it is hidden from me [and] takes place in secret’.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The old fiend was amazed at the newborn man, whom he was prohibited from understanding, and it was as if the spirit spoke words like these with his tongue long ago: ‘It seems to me that some new thing draws near to the world and families of men [MANKIND]; the Lord will be devising something clever; I am ignorant, because it is being kept secret.
This st. marks the beginning of a soliloquy by Lucifer which continues to the end of st. 43. It is based on the patristic idea that the Fall had given the devil juridical rights over the human race. The Incarnation was consequently regarded as a trap for the devil: the humanity of Jesus deceived Lucifer into thinking that he was a man like all others, whom he could dominate as he had all humans since the sin of Adam and Eve. The twofold danger for Lucifer in this assumption was that by unjustly attempting to punish a sinless man, he would lose his right to punish sinners, and that by attempting to devour the immortal Christ, he would be overcome and himself be consumed (see Aulén 1951, 47-55, and Wee 1974 on this topos). Paasche (1957, 535) and Schottmann (1973, 201) point out an analogue in an ON miracle story, three versions of which are printed in Mar 1871, 180-8; 473-81; 1147-9. The sources for the text are a miracle of S. Hugh recorded in Peter the Venerable’s De miraculis (Petrus Cluniacensis, cols 880-1) and a homily of Maximus of Turin (Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia XXXVII, cols 303-8). The analogue to Lucifer’s soliloquy comes from the homily of Maximus: Hverr er þessi maðr, er sva geck inn i heim þenna, at ek uissa eigi? Veit ek at hann er af konv fęddr ok upprvnninn, enn þat er mer blint, hvern veg hann er getinn ... Miøk er þessi lvtr vndarligr ok oheyðr fyrr i verolldu ‘Who is this man, who has come into the world in such a way that I did not know about it? I know that he is born of a woman and comes from her, but I am blind to how he was conceived ... This thing is very strange and until now unheard of in the world’ (Mar 1871, 186, 479). Cf. also the hymn Pange, lingua, gloriosi: Hoc opus nostrae salutis / ordo depoposcerat, / Multiformis proditoris / ars ut artem falleret... ‘Order demanded this work of our salvation, that artifice should bring down the artifice of the many-formed deceiver...’ (AH 2, 44)
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