Anon Lil 56^VII

Þó griet hun nú, sárra súta
sverði nist í bringu og herðar;
sitt einbernið, sjálfan drottin,
sá hun hanganda á nöglum stangaz.
Armar sviddu á brýndum broddum;
brjóst er mætt með þessum hætti;
særðiz bæði sonr og móðir
sannheilög fyrir græðing manna.

Þó griet hun nú, nist í bringu og herðar sverði sárra súta; einbernið sitt, sjálfan drottin, sá hun hanganda, stangaz á nöglum. Armar sviddu á brýndum broddum; brjóst er mætt með þessum hætti; særðiz bæði sannheilög sonr og móðir fyrir græðing manna.

Nevertheless she now wept, pierced in breast and back by a sword of grievous sorrows; her only begotten child, the Lord himself, she saw hanging, being pierced on nails. The arms burned from the sharpened points; the breast is enervated in this way; the truly holy son and mother are both wounded for the salvation of men.

Mss: Bb(115rb), 99a(11v), 622(33), 713(11), Vb(252), 41 8°ˣ(123), 705ˣ(14v), 4892(34r)

Readings: [1] Þó: Svá Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ;    nú: svá 99a, þá 705ˣ;    sárra: sárran 622    [2] sverði: sem sverði 99a, 705ˣ;    í: meðal 99a;    og: eg Vb;    herðar: herða 99a    [3] sitt: er sitt 705ˣ    [4] hanganda: hangandi 99a, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892    [5] Armar: í arma 622;    sviddu: ‘suidu’ 99a, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892, rendu 622;    á: af 622, 4892;    broddum: bjóðar 4892    [6] brjóst: brjóstið 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892;    er: var 99a, 705ˣ, om. 622, 713, Vb, 4892;    mætt með: mæðr Vb;    með: so 622, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, af Bb, í 99a    [7] særðiz: sæfðiz 622    [8] fyrir: í Vb, 41 8°ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 381, Skj BII, 405, Skald II, 221.

Notes: [1-2]: An allusion to Simeon’s prophecy to Mary (Luke II.35): et tuam ipsius animam pertransiet gladius ut revelentur ex multis cordibus cogitationes ‘and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed’, echoed in the popular sequence Stabat Mater Dolorosa: Cuius animam gementem / Contristantem et dolentem / Pertransivit gladius ‘whose groaning soul, sorrowing and weeping, a sword pierced’ (AH 54, 312). — [1] súta ‘sorrow’: Skj B’s sáta is a misprint (JH). — [5-8]: The third cl. of this sentence draws together the first two: The son suffers the pain of crucifixion; the mother, as Simeon predicted, the pain of beholding it. Cf. the Meditaciones Vite Christi: Et hec omnia dicuntur et fiunt presente mestissima matre sua: cuius compassio multum augmentat filii passionem et e conuerso. Ipsa cum filio pendebat in cruce; et pocius elegisset mori cum ipso quam amplius uiuere ... Viri fratres, rogo uos propter Deum altissimum, ne me amplius uexare uelitis in dilectissimo filio meo ‘And all these things are said and done in the presence of his most sorrowful mother, whose own suffering greatly increased her son’s suffering, as his did hers.Virtually she was hanging on the cross with her son ... [Mary says] “Fellow men, I beg you in the name of the most high God, not to torment me any longer in the person of my most beloved son”’ (Stallings-Taney 1997, 272-3, 277; Taney 2000, 254, 257). — [5] sviddu ‘burned’: The verb svíða is normally strong (past sveið), but the rhyme scheme in this l. requires the weak pret. form in -dd-. — [8] sannheilög ‘truly holy’: The word can be either n. pl., referring to both mother and son, or f. sg., referring only to the mother. The presence of the word bæði ‘both’ (l. 7) suggests the former interpretation is preferable.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. AH = Dreves, G. M., C. Blume and H. M. Bannister, eds. 1886-1922. Analecta hymnica medii aeui. 55 vols. Leipzig: Reisland. Rpt. 1961. New York: Johnson.