Gamlkan Has 19VII
Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 19’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 90.
Þú ‘you’
(not checked:)
þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
vast ‘were’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
mæztr ‘Most precious’
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2. mærr (adj.): famous
kennings
Mæztr hildingr hauðrs,‘Most precious prince of the earth, ’
= God
Most precious prince of the earth, → God
frá ‘of’
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frá (prep.): from
meyju ‘maiden’
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mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden
mikil ‘a great’
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mikill (adj.; °mikinn): great, large
dýrð ‘honour’
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dýrð (noun f.; °-ar/-a(NoDipl(1279) 44²); -ir): glory
es ‘is’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
fyrðum ‘to mankind’
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2. fyrðr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -): man
hauðrs ‘of the earth’
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hauðr (noun n.): earth, ground
kennings
Mæztr hildingr hauðrs,‘Most precious prince of the earth, ’
= God
Most precious prince of the earth, → God
í ‘into’
(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into
heim ‘the world’
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heimr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): home, abode; world
með ‘amongst’
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með (prep.): with
lýðum ‘men’
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lýðr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir): one of the people
hildingr ‘prince’
(not checked:)
hildingr (noun m.; °; -ar): king, ruler
kennings
Mæztr hildingr hauðrs,‘Most precious prince of the earth, ’
= God
Most precious prince of the earth, → God
borinn ‘born’
(not checked:)
3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
mildri ‘a gentle’
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mildr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -astr): mild, gentle, gracious, generous
[4] mildri: mildi B
notes
[4] mildri (f. dat. sg) ‘gentle’: If the adj. qualifies meyju (l. 1), the ms. reading must be emended (so Skj B, Skald and NN §2926). Sveinbjörn Egilsson (note to 444ˣ transcript), followed by Kempff, construes Mæztr hildingr mildi, þú vast borinn frá meyju í heim með lýðum ‘Most honoured king of gentleness, you were born of a maiden into the world with men’.
Sæll ‘gladly’
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sæll (adj.): happy, blessed
bart ‘bore’
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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
ó ‘weak’
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ó- ((prefix)): un- < óstyrkð (noun f.): weakness
styrkð ‘nesses’
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styrkð (noun f.; °-ar): [nesses] < óstyrkð (noun f.): weakness
alla ‘all’
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allr (adj.): all
ágætr ‘Glorious’
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ágætr (adj.; °compar. ágǽtari/ágǽtri, superl. ágǽtastr/ágǽztr): excellent
kennings
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
mein ‘’
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mein (noun n.; °-s; -): harm, injury < meinlæti (noun n.): suffering
læti ‘sufferings’
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læti (noun n.; °; -, dat. látum/lǽtum): agony < meinlæti (noun n.): suffering
skrýðir ‘adorner’
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skrýðir (noun m.): [adorner]
kennings
notes
[7-8] skrýðir skríns slóðar skýja ‘adorner of the shrine of the path of the clouds [HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)]’: A similar sun-kenning occurs in Leið 32/5-6 [skjǫlðungr] skríns skýja ‘[king] of the shrine of the clouds’. Although skrín skýja ‘shrine of the clouds’ is popular in later poetry, it does not seem to occur earlier than here (see LP: skrín).
skýja ‘of the clouds’
(not checked:)
ský (noun n.; °-s; -): cloud
kennings
notes
[7-8] skrýðir skríns slóðar skýja ‘adorner of the shrine of the path of the clouds [HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)]’: A similar sun-kenning occurs in Leið 32/5-6 [skjǫlðungr] skríns skýja ‘[king] of the shrine of the clouds’. Although skrín skýja ‘shrine of the clouds’ is popular in later poetry, it does not seem to occur earlier than here (see LP: skrín).
skýja ‘of the clouds’
(not checked:)
ský (noun n.; °-s; -): cloud
kennings
notes
[7-8] skrýðir skríns slóðar skýja ‘adorner of the shrine of the path of the clouds [HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)]’: A similar sun-kenning occurs in Leið 32/5-6 [skjǫlðungr] skríns skýja ‘[king] of the shrine of the clouds’. Although skrín skýja ‘shrine of the clouds’ is popular in later poetry, it does not seem to occur earlier than here (see LP: skrín).
slóðar ‘of the path’
(not checked:)
slóð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): path, track
kennings
notes
[7-8] skrýðir skríns slóðar skýja ‘adorner of the shrine of the path of the clouds [HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)]’: A similar sun-kenning occurs in Leið 32/5-6 [skjǫlðungr] skríns skýja ‘[king] of the shrine of the clouds’. Although skrín skýja ‘shrine of the clouds’ is popular in later poetry, it does not seem to occur earlier than here (see LP: skrín).
slóðar ‘of the path’
(not checked:)
slóð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): path, track
[7, 8] slóðar skríns: ‘s[...]’ B, ‘slóðar ṣḳrins’(?) 399a‑bˣ, ‘sl(odar skrins)’(?) BRydberg, ‘sl(oð)ar s(k)rins’(?) BFJ
kennings
Ágætr skrýðir skríns slóðar skýja,‘Glorious adorner of the shrine of the path of the clouds, you ’
= God
the shrine of the path of the clouds, you → HEAVEN
Glorious adorner of the HEAVEN → God
notes
[7-8] skrýðir skríns slóðar skýja ‘adorner of the shrine of the path of the clouds [HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)]’: A similar sun-kenning occurs in Leið 32/5-6 [skjǫlðungr] skríns skýja ‘[king] of the shrine of the clouds’. Although skrín skýja ‘shrine of the clouds’ is popular in later poetry, it does not seem to occur earlier than here (see LP: skrín).
skríns ‘of the shrine’
(not checked:)
skrín (noun n.; °-s; -): shrine
[7, 8] slóðar skríns: ‘s[...]’ B, ‘slóðar ṣḳrins’(?) 399a‑bˣ, ‘sl(odar skrins)’(?) BRydberg, ‘sl(oð)ar s(k)rins’(?) BFJ
kennings
Ágætr skrýðir skríns slóðar skýja,‘Glorious adorner of the shrine of the path of the clouds, you ’
= God
the shrine of the path of the clouds, you → HEAVEN
Glorious adorner of the HEAVEN → God
notes
[7-8] skrýðir skríns slóðar skýja ‘adorner of the shrine of the path of the clouds [HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)]’: A similar sun-kenning occurs in Leið 32/5-6 [skjǫlðungr] skríns skýja ‘[king] of the shrine of the clouds’. Although skrín skýja ‘shrine of the clouds’ is popular in later poetry, it does not seem to occur earlier than here (see LP: skrín).
skríns ‘of the shrine’
(not checked:)
skrín (noun n.; °-s; -): shrine
[7, 8] slóðar skríns: ‘s[...]’ B, ‘slóðar ṣḳrins’(?) 399a‑bˣ, ‘sl(odar skrins)’(?) BRydberg, ‘sl(oð)ar s(k)rins’(?) BFJ
kennings
Ágætr skrýðir skríns slóðar skýja,‘Glorious adorner of the shrine of the path of the clouds, you ’
= God
the shrine of the path of the clouds, you → HEAVEN
Glorious adorner of the HEAVEN → God
notes
[7-8] skrýðir skríns slóðar skýja ‘adorner of the shrine of the path of the clouds [HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)]’: A similar sun-kenning occurs in Leið 32/5-6 [skjǫlðungr] skríns skýja ‘[king] of the shrine of the clouds’. Although skrín skýja ‘shrine of the clouds’ is popular in later poetry, it does not seem to occur earlier than here (see LP: skrín).
á ‘on’
(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at
líkam ‘body’
(not checked:)
líkamr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -/-i; -ir): body
þínum ‘your’
(not checked:)
þinn (pron.; °f. þín, n. þitt): your
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
[1-4]: Similar locutions for the Virgin occur in later skaldic accounts of the Annunciation and birth of Christ. Líkn 12/1-2, which most likely borrows from Leið and/or Has, has Sá baztr frá mey mæztri | mildingr beraz vildi ‘the best prince wished to be born from a most precious maiden’. The construction recurs in Anon Lil 24/5-6, where Gabriel is told fljúg ok seg það Máríu meyju | mætri ‘fly and say to the worthy maiden Mary...’, and in Gimsteinum 12/1 (ÍM II, 307) fæðist liet af meyju mætri ‘allowed himself to be born of the most honourable maiden’. — [1-4]: Cf. the account of the Nativity in Leið 23/3-4: mæztr frá meyju betri | mildingr [lét] berask hingað ‘the most praiseworthy prince [allowed] himself to be born here of the best maiden’.
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