Anon Lil 66VII
Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 66’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 637-8.
Þú ‘You’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
fyrir ‘’
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fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of < fyrirdœma (verb)
dæmdir ‘doomed to death’
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dœma (verb; °-mð-): judge < fyrirdœma (verb)
auma ‘wretched’
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aumr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): wretched, poor
[1] auma: ‘aua’ 622
fyrir ‘with’
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fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of
bannað ‘the forbidden’
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2. banna (verb; °-að-): forbid, refuse
maðr ‘man’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
notes
[3] maðr ‘man’: The meaning here is ‘man as a link in a line of descent’ (see Heggstad, Hødnebø and Simensen 1997: maðr 5).
bann ‘was cursed’
um ‘through’
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1. um (prep.): about, around
notes
[3] um allar ættir ‘through all generations’: Cf. um aldr ok æfi ‘from age to age, through all ages’ 1/7 and Note, and um allar aldir alda ‘through all ages of ages’ 74/7-8. The customary idiom is í öllum ættum.
allar ‘all’
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allr (adj.): all
notes
[3] um allar ættir ‘through all generations’: Cf. um aldr ok æfi ‘from age to age, through all ages’ 1/7 and Note, and um allar aldir alda ‘through all ages of ages’ 74/7-8. The customary idiom is í öllum ættum.
ættir ‘his descendants’
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1. ætt (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): family
notes
[3] um allar ættir ‘through all generations’: Cf. um aldr ok æfi ‘from age to age, through all ages’ 1/7 and Note, and um allar aldir alda ‘through all ages of ages’ 74/7-8. The customary idiom is í öllum ættum.
Krist ‘Christ’
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Kristr (noun m.; °-s/-, dat. -i; -ar): Christ
[4] Krist: Krists 99a, 622, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892
er ‘whom’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
[4] er: so 713, 4892, á Bb, 99a, 622, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ
Kristr ‘Christ’
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Kristr (noun m.; °-s/-, dat. -i; -ar): Christ
[5] Kristr: Kristr að 99a, 705ˣ, Kristr af 713, 4892, Kristr liet Vb, 41 8°ˣ
þig ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
[5] þig þó er: þig er Bb, þig þó 99a, 705ˣ, þau er 622, þier að 713, 4892, því að Vb, 41 8°ˣ
þó ‘nevertheless’
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þó (adv.): though
[5] þig þó er: þig er Bb, þig þó 99a, 705ˣ, þau er 622, þier að 713, 4892, því að Vb, 41 8°ˣ
er ‘who’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
[5] þig þó er: þig er Bb, þig þó 99a, 705ˣ, þau er 622, þier að 713, 4892, því að Vb, 41 8°ˣ
fant ‘conceived’
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2. finna (verb): find, meet
[5] fant: fann 99a, 713, 705ˣ, 4892, fanstu Vb, 41 8°ˣ
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
fystu ‘the beginning’
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fyrstu (adv.): beginning
[5] fystu: so 713, fyrsta Bb, fyrstu 99a, 622, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ
notes
[5] fystu ‘first’: The alternative spelling is necessary for the rhyme with Krist. See Nj 1875-8, II, 948, for a discussion of rhymes between full and partial syllables in later skaldic poetry, and cf. the rhyme Krist- : nist- in 96/2.
fystan ‘the first’
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fyrstr (num. ordinal): first
[6] fystan: á fystan 99a, 705ˣ, fyrstann 622, Vb, 4892
prett ‘fraud’
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prettr (noun m.; °dat. -; -ir/-ar, acc. -u/-i/-a): fraud, deceit
mann ‘’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person < manndráp (noun n.): manslaughter
[6] manndráp: manndráps 622, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892
dráp ‘murder’
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dráp (noun n.; °-s): killing < manndráp (noun n.): manslaughter
[6] manndráp: manndráps 622, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892
settir ‘established’
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setja (verb): place, set, establish
[6] settir: lystann 99a, lysti 622, lystir 713, 4892, lystar Vb, 41 8°ˣ, þystan 705ˣ
ódygðar ‘of faithlessness’
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ódyggð (noun f.): faithlessness
notes
[7] brandrinn ódygðar ‘the sword of faithlessness’: Cf. 19/2, where ódygð is used in reference to the sin of Adam and Eve, and 42/8 and Note, where flein ódygðar ‘dart of faithlessness’ is analogous to brandrinn ódygðar in this st. Hill sees in this image an allusion to the krókr ‘hook’ of st. 60 (Hill 1969, 563-4).
brandrinn ‘sword’
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brandr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): sword, prow; fire
[7] brandrinn: brandinn Vb, ‘brodrinn’ 4892
notes
[7] brandrinn ódygðar ‘the sword of faithlessness’: Cf. 19/2, where ódygð is used in reference to the sin of Adam and Eve, and 42/8 and Note, where flein ódygðar ‘dart of faithlessness’ is analogous to brandrinn ódygðar in this st. Hill sees in this image an allusion to the krókr ‘hook’ of st. 60 (Hill 1969, 563-4).
notes
[7] bjúgi ‘recoiling’: JH (see also Finnur Jónsson 1772-8, II, 430-1 and Nj 1875-8, II, 947-51) was tempted to emend to beygði ‘bent, bowed, turned’ in order to preserve the dunhent pattern of the st. Cf. the analogous use of the word in the phrase hinn bjúgi ormr ‘the twisted serpent’ in 60/7. The meaning of bjúgi underlines the circular nature of the process the st. describes.
beygiz ‘is turned’
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2. beygja (verb; °beygði): bend down, twist
[8] beygiz: beygðiz 99a, 713, 4892, beygjaz Vb, 41 8°ˣ
aftr ‘back’
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aptr (adv.; °compar. -ar): back
í ‘into’
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í (prep.): in, into
þína ‘your’
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þinn (pron.; °f. þín, n. þitt): your
kjafta ‘mouth’
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kjaftr (noun m.): cheek, mouth
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
You doomed to death wretched Eve, Eve [doomed] the man with the forbidden apple, man was cursed through all his descendants, his descendants [doomed] Christ, whom they pierced with a spear. Christ nevertheless [doomed] you, who, in the beginning, conceived the first fraud and established murder; thus the recoiling sword of faithlessness is turned back into your mouth.
Cf. Geoffrey of Vinsauf, Poetria nova: Hostis enim primus damnaverat Evam, / Eva secunda virum, vir tertius omne quod ejus / Stirpis erat, stirps quarta Deum, Deus ultimus hostem, / Cui mors ipse fuit ‘So the condemnation justly came to a close with him from whom it began. For the enemy had first condemned Eve; Eve, secondly, condemned her husband; her husband, thirdly, condemned all his offspring; the offspring, fourthly, condemned God; God, last of all condemned the enemy whose cause of death he was’ (Nims 1967, 57-8; Faral 1924, 232; see Foote 1982, 118-9). JH notes that this st. has become garbled in the ms. tradition: none of the scribes appears to have understood it fully. The basic theme is that of the second helmingr of st. 45: the curse laid on humanity by the devil is now turned back on him. Eiríkur Magnússon (1870, 66-7) offers a step-by-step theory of how the text became corrupt. Hill points out that this st. marks a key juncture in the poem, the completion of the Atonement, while st. 67 marks the beginning of a new age. He notes that ‘Christ’s birth is described in st. 33. Thus the poet describes Christ’s life on earth through the completion of the Atonement in a sequence of thirty-three verses, which obviously corresponds to the traditional asumption that Christ lived thirty-three years on earth’ (Hill 1970, 564). The st. is dunhent ‘resounding rhymed’: it exhibits anadiplosis as well as climax or gradatio and polyptoton: see Note on 49/1-4 and cf. st. 55.
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