Anon Lil 80^VII

Svá fýsumz eg, sæti Jésú,
synda líkn, að þeira myndir
lítaz mier, sem liggi þrútið
linna eitr um hjartað innan.
Send hingað mier sjaufalds anda
sanna gift, er leysi ór banni
mína önd, svá að mættag þjóna,
Máríu blómi, fyrir yðarn sóma.

Sæti Jésú, svá fýsumz eg líkn synda, að myndir þeira lítaz mier, sem eitr linna liggi innan um þrútið hjartað. Send mier hingað sanna gift sjaufalds anda, er leysi önd mína ór banni, svá að mættag þjóna fyrir sóma yðarn, {blómi Máríu}.

Sweet Jesus, I so long for mercy on my sins, that images of them appear to me as if serpents’ venom lies inside around my swollen heart. Send to me here the true gift of the sevenfold Spirit, which can loose my soul from its ban, so that I may serve to your honour, {fruit of Mary} [= Christ].

Mss: Bb(116ra), 99a(16r), 622(37), 713(13), Vb(254), 41 8°ˣ(131), 705ˣ(19r), 4892(37v-38r)

Readings: [1] fýsumz: fýsiz Vb, 41 8°ˣ;    eg: eg hinn 622, enn 713, 4892;    Jésú: Jésús 99a, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892    [2] líkn: lausn 99a, 622, 705ˣ;    að: á 622, og 713, því Vb, 41 8°ˣ;    þeira: þessa 622;    myndir: so 99a, 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892, ‘mydi’ Bb    [3] lítaz: líkjaz 622;    mier: má 622;    þrútið: þrútin 713    [5] hingað mier: mier hingað Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892    [6] gift: gipt þá 99a, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, svá 713, 4892;    leysi: leysir Vb, 41 8°ˣ    [7] svá: om. 99a, og 622;    að: om. 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892    [8] blómi: blóm 99a, 622, 713, 705ˣ, fróm Vb, 41 8°ˣ;    yðarn: ykkar 99a, ykkrum 622, ykkarn 713, þínum Vb, om. 41 8°ˣ;    sóma: Dómi Vb, 41 8°ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 388-9, Skj BII, 411, Skald II, 225.

Notes: [1] sæti Jésú ‘sweet Jesus’: Cf. Jésú sæta 60/1 and Note, as well as sæti Jésú 63/1 and faðir hinn sæti ‘sweet Father’ 79/1. — [3-4] myndir lítaz ‘images appear’: Lítaz is the reflexive form of líta ‘see’. The reflexive usually means ‘think, seem’, but its association here with myndir, which can mean ‘picture’ or ‘image’ as well as ‘conception’ or ‘idea’ suggests that we are meant to think of visual images. — [5-6] sjaufalds anda sanna gipt ‘sevenfold Spirit’s true gift’: Cf. 27/5 and Note. — [6] leysi … ór banni ‘loose … from its ban (of excommunication)’: Cf. 15/2, 64/7, and 83/2. — [8] blómi Máríu ‘fruit of Mary’: An allusion to Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary in Luke I.42: benedicta tu inter mulieres et benedictus fructus ventris tui ‘Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb’. The epithet for Jesus is pervasive in the Lat. tradition, but this is the only instance cited by LP. ONP cites an analogous use of the word in Mar in a translation of Isa. XI.1-2: Upp mun renna vöndr af rót Jesse ok blómgaz, ok yfir þeim blóma mun hvílaz andi dróttins ‘there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and blossom. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon that flower’ (Mar 1871, 15). In ON poetry, blóm is more commonly used in reference to Mary: cf. mektarblóm ‘flower of might’ 25/2 and LP: blóm. The Marian prayer in HómÍsl calls Mary blóme hréinlifes ‘flower of chastity’ (HómÍsl 1993, 90v). In Lil 16/3 and 18/2 the word is used of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Its appearance in the present context may be an attempt to draw attention to the typological relationship of the two events.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
4. ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.
5. HómÍsl 1993 = de Leeuw van Weenen, Andrea, ed. 1993. The Icelandic Homily Book: Perg. 15 4° in the Royal Library, Stockholm. Íslensk handrit/Icelandic Manuscripts Series in quarto 3. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi.
6. HómÍsl = Íslensk hómilíubók (The Icelandic Homily Book).
7. Internal references
8. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 16’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 581-2.