Anon Lil 77VII
Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 77’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 649-50.
Vindi ‘of wind’
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1. vindr (noun m.; °-s/-ar; -ar): wind
notes
[1] vindi fult ‘puffed-up’: Puffed-up or inflated pride is a standard topos in religious literature. Its roots lie in 1 Tim. III.6: ne in superbia elatus in iudicium incidat diaboli ‘lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the judgement of the devil’.
fult ‘full’
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2. fullr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): full, complete
notes
[1] vindi fult ‘puffed-up’: Puffed-up or inflated pride is a standard topos in religious literature. Its roots lie in 1 Tim. III.6: ne in superbia elatus in iudicium incidat diaboli ‘lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the judgement of the devil’.
hefir ‘has’
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hafa (verb): have
veslan ‘wretched’
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vesall (adj.): wretched (w. gen.)
[1] veslan: vestann 41 8°ˣ, ‘[...]eslum’ 4892
anda ‘soul’
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andi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): spirit, soul
várn ‘our’
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várr (pron.; °f. ór/vár; pl. órir/várir): our
[2] várn: ‘vont’ 99a, Vb, 705ˣ, vort 622, 713, 4892, vondt 41 8°ˣ
notes
[2] ofbeldið ‘pride’: Cf. 7/7 and 9/6.
laungum ‘long’
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langr (adj.; °compar. lengri, superl. lengstr): long
feldan ‘felled’
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3. fella (verb): fell, kill
[2] feldan: feldi 622, hreldan Vb, 41 8°ˣ, ‘[...]relldann’ 4892
blár ‘black’
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blár (adj.): black
notes
[3] blár ‘black, blue, blue-black’: ‘A distinction between the two can often not be drawn’ (ONP: blár). The word is used of bruised flesh (ONP: blár 4); Páll Hallsson translates blár ok ljótr as lividus et deformis ‘livid and deformed’ (Páll Hallsson 1773, 39). Cf. Kirsten Wolf’s discussion of the colour blue and her comment that in this st. ‘blár is clearly used in an abstract sense to denote sinful’ (Wolf 2006, 2).
og ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
ljótr ‘ugly’
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ljótr (adj.): ugly
í ‘on’
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í (prep.): in, into
öfundar ‘of envy’
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ǫfund (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): envy
eitri ‘the venom’
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eitr (noun n.; °; dat. -um): poison
jafnan ‘constantly’
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jafnan (adv.): always
eg ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
næsta ‘nearly’
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nærri (adj. comp.; °superl. nǽstr): near, nearer, next
kafnað ‘choked’
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kafna (verb): suffocate, choke
Reiði ‘of wrath’
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2. reiði (noun f.; °-): anger < reiðigall (noun n.)
gall ‘The gall’
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2. gall (noun n.): gall < reiðigall (noun n.)
með ‘with’
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með (prep.): with
sárum ‘painful’
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sárr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): sore, painful; wounded
sviðrar ‘burns’
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sviðra (verb): [burns]
notes
[6] sviðrar ‘burns’: The word is not attested elsewhere in ON. LP (1860); LP; and Heggstad, Hødnebø and Simensen 1997 translate ‘burn’ (there is no entry in Fritzner). Most eds and translators of the poem follow (Eiríkur Magnússon 1870, 79 and 120; Wisén 1889, 282; Skj B; Åkerblom 1916, 27; Meissner 1922, 15; Guðbrandur Jónsson 1951, 177; Boucher 1985, 2-21; Ødegård 1980, 79; Taillé 1989, 155). But Jón Helgason notes that Sigfús Blöndal defines it as fyge, hvirvles, navnlig om sne; knurre, brumle, mumle (‘fly or swirl, in association with snow; growl, rumble, mumble’, Sigfús Blöndal 1920-4: sviðra 1-2), and this meaning is reflected in Páll Hallsson’s (1773, 39) early Lat. translation furit ‘rages’, although his translation into Dan. reads er beesk ‘is bitter’ (Holm papp 23 folˣ, 21). Baumgartner translates wühlt ‘digs’ (1884, 51), Paasche translates slaar ‘strikes’ (1915, 64) and Lange translates ließ schwellen ‘causes to swell’ (1958b, 69).
mier ‘me’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
um ‘in’
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1. um (prep.): about, around
blásin ‘my swollen’
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2. blása (verb; °blǽss; blés, blésu; blásinn): blow
notes
[7] hrygðin ‘sorrow’: A translation of acedia (sloth, spiritual torpor, depression), traditionally the fourth deadly sin.
slítr ‘tears’
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slíta (verb): to tear
hjarta ‘of the heart’
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hjarta (noun n.; °-; *-u): heart < hjartarót (noun f.)
[7] hjartarótum: hjartans rótum Vb
rótum ‘the roots’
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1. rót (noun f.; °-ar; rǿtr): root < hjartarót (noun f.)
[7] hjartarótum: hjartans rótum Vb
harðan ‘the hard’
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harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh
[8] harðan: harla 622
styrk ‘strength’
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1. styrkr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -ir): strength
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
súta ‘of despair’
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1. sút (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): sorrow < sútamyrkr (noun n.)
[8] sútamyrkri: sútarmyrkri 622
myrkri ‘the darkness’
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1. myrkr (noun n.; °myrkrs/myrks; -): darkness < sútamyrkr (noun n.)
[8] sútamyrkri: sútarmyrkri 622
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Puffed-up [lit. full of wind] pride has long felled our [my] wretched soul; black and ugly, I have constantly nearly choked on the venom of envy. The gall of wrath burns me with painful ulcers in my swollen bowels; sorrow tears the hard strength from the roots of the heart in the darkness of despair.
The theme of sts 77-8 is the seven deadly or capital sins (see Kilström 1962b). Lists of capital sins appear frequently in ON religious literature: notable examples include HómNo (1-31, 35-8), HómÍsl (HómÍsl 1993, 29v-31r) and Konungs Skuggsjá (Holm-Olsen 1983, 80). The number of sins and the order in which they appear vary in these texts and others. The list in Lil follows a later tradition and corresponds to the one established by Gregory the Great in his Moralia in Iob: superbia ‘pride’ (or inanis gloria ‘vainglory’), invidia ‘envy’, ira ‘wrath’, tristitia ‘sloth, sadness’, avaritia ‘avarice’, ventris ingluvies ‘gluttony’, and luxuria ‘lust’ (Adriaen 1979, 143B:1610-13 [31.45]). It may be derived from a manual for priests by William of Pagula entitled Oculus sacerdotis, which was widely circulated in Europe and the British Isles. ON versions survive in the C15th mss AM 626 4° and AM 672 4° (see Widding 1960 and Þorvaldur Bjarnarson 1878, 159-61). St. 77 deals with the sins of pride (ofbeldi), envy (öfund), wrath (reiðigall), and spiritual despair (hrygð).
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