Anon Lil 99^VII

Sannri ást af sætu brjósti
sinni riett fyrir hjálp og minni
segi Máríu hverr, er heyrir
hennar vess, á diktan þessa,
því vera kann, að mærin minniz
mín, þá er liggi eg kvaldr í pínum;
berr mig þar til ván, á vörrum
víst ef lieki dominus tecum.

Sannri ást af sætu brjósti, fyrir hjálp sinni og minni, segi hverr, er heyrir á þessa diktan, riett Máríu hennar vess, því vera kann, að mærin minniz mín, þá er eg liggi kvaldr í pínum; ván berr mig þar til, ef Dominus tecum lieki víst á vörrum.

With true love from a sweet breast, for the sake of his own salvation and mine, may whoever listens to this poem say clearly to Mary her verse, because it can happen that the maid will remember me, when I lie plagued by torments; I have hope of that, if Dominus tecum ‘The Lord is with you’ certainly plays on my lips.

Mss: Bb(116vb), 99a(19v), 622(41), 713(15), Vb(256) (ll. 1-4), 41 8°ˣ(136) (ll. 1-4), 705ˣ(24r), 4892(40v) (ll. 1-4)

Readings: [1] Sannri: Með sannri 622, Af sannri Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892;    ást: ást og 622;    af: og 99a, Vb, 705ˣ, 4892    [2] riett: so 99a, 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892, ‘reitt’ Bb    [3] Máríu: Jésús Vb, Jésú 41 8°ˣ;    er: að 622, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, sem 705ˣ, eð 4892;    heyrir: hlýðir 622    [4] hennar: hróðrar Vb, 41 8°ˣ;    vess (‘uers’): vez 4892;    á: og Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892    [5] því vera: so 99a, vera Bb, 622, 713, 705ˣ;    að: so 99a, 713, 705ˣ, því að Bb, það 622;    mærin: diktin 4892;    minniz: so 99a, 622, 713, 705ˣ, minnz Bb    [6] þá: þó 99a, 713, 705ˣ;    er: om. 99a, 713, eg 622, að 705ˣ;    liggi eg: so 99a, 713, liggr Bb, ligg 622, liggi 705ˣ;    kvaldr: kvalinn 99a;    pínum: pínu 99a, 622, 705ˣ    [7] berr: beri 713    [8] lieki: lieki á 99a, 622, 713, 705ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 395, Skj BII, 416, Skald II, 228, NN §3319.

Notes: [All]: Vb and 41 8°ˣ conclude the drápa with the first helmingr of this st. followed by the two stef (‘Æfinliga . . . þinni’ and ‘Sé þér dýrð . . . aldri’). Hill 1970 detects a triangular pattern within the circular structure of the poem: Christ is born in st. 33, the Atonement is completed in st. 66, and the poem ends in st. 99. The naming of the poem in st. 98 highlights this triple-duple, triangular-circular pattern (see Note to st. 98/8). Hill sees in the conflation of the two numerical patterns (a circular one based on 100 and a triangular one based on ninety-nine), ‘the emblem of the circular triangle ... frequently used as an emblem of the Trinity’ (1970, 564-5). He cites as analogues a passage from the Roman de la Rose (de Lorris and de Meun 1914-25, ll. 19124-45; de Lorris and de Meun 1962, 405-6) and a Nativity hymn attributed to Philippe de Grꜵves (AH 20, 88) in support of this view. — [1] af sætu brjósti ‘from a sweet breast’: The phrase is reminiscent of the homily on virtues and vices in HómNo, 4, where the phrase søtre ero brioſte mínu mꜵl þin drótten ‘your speech is sweet to my breast, Lord’ is a confused reference to Ps. CXVIII.103 (quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua super mel ori meo ‘how sweet are thy words to my palate! more than honey to my mouth’) and Prov. XVI.24 (favus mellis verba conposita dulcedo animae et sanitas ossuum ‘Well ordered words are as a honeycomb: sweet to the soul, and health to the bones’). See Note on sæta 60/1. — [1] brjósti ‘breast’: Cf. 2/5 and Note. — [3-4]: Cf. the verbal parallel in Has 64/5-8. — [8] Dominus tecum ‘the Lord is with you’: The angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary at the Annunciation (Luke I.28) was incorporated into the popular prayer Ave Maria: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Sancta Maria, mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostræ ‘Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death’. The poet hopes to die with this prayer on his lips, and he hopes that Mary’s intimacy with her son will assure him a lenient judgement. Cf. the Marian prayer from HómÍsl: Weſ þu mér at tráusti í andláti míno oc ſvara fyr mic þeim orþom eſ mér come til hiálpar. þa eſ keomc fyr déomiſtól ſonar þíns. Vaʟd þu þui en helga maria af verþleicom þínom. at eige déome ſá mic til eilífra quala fyr ſakar ſynþa miɴa. eſ mic leyste fra eilífom dáuþa af miſcuɴ ſiɴe meþ blóþe ſíno ſiálfſ. ieſuſ chriſtuſ filiuſ tuuſ ‘Be my consolation at my death and answer for me with the words that will help me, when I come before the judgement seat of your son. Holy Mary, by your merit make certain that he not damn me to eternal torment for the sake of my sins, who redeemed me from eternal death by his mercy and with his own blood: your son Jesus Christ’ (HómÍsl 1993, 90v). The skald’s Dominus tecum is more than a conventional prayer to Mary: it is a speech-act by which he makes the statement true not only of Mary but of himself. The same formula occurs at Mgr 47/4.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 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.
5. Hill, Thomas D. 1970. ‘Number and patterns in Lilja’. JEGP 69, 516-7.
6. 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.
7. HómNo = Indrebø, Gustav. 1931. Gamal norsk homiliebok, Cod. AM 619, 4°. Det norske historiske Kjeldeskrift Fond, Skrifter 54. Oslo: Dybwad. Rpt. 1966. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
8. HómÍsl = Íslensk hómilíubók (The Icelandic Homily Book).
9. de Lorris, Guillaume, and Jean de Meun. 1962. The Romance of the Rose. Trans. Harry W. Robbins. Ed. Charles W. Dunn. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
10. Internal references
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Drápa af Máríugrát 47’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 791-2.
12. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 64’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 130-1.