Gamlkan Has 31^VII

Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 31’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 99-100.

text and translation

notes and context

The turmoil associated with the Second Coming and Last Judgement is a recurrent theme in medieval eschatological literature and art. It is difficult to find precise parallels with Gamli’s account. The locus classicus is Rev. XX, where the account includes mention of punishing fire and of the resurrection of the dead (Rev. XX.12, 15). The account of the ‘Day of the Lord’ in the Second Epistle of Peter (2 Pet III.10-11) stresses that destruction will be by fire, not by water, as in the days of Noah. The raising of the dead is also a tenet of Pauline eschatology (1 Cor. XV.52). Turville-Petre (1953, 163) and Lange (1958a, 146) note that there are some parallels between this st. and the account of Ragnarǫk in Vsp 54. — [1-4]: B fol. 13r, l.1 is dark and badly worn (partly as a result of earlier restoration attempts). It has therefore been necessary to rely heavily on previous transcriptions of the ms., most notably that of 399a-bˣ, to reconstruct the text. Where earlier eds are uncertain of the reading (notably with kveðja in l. 4), rhyme and alliteration have been used as guides for confirmation of their reconstructions.

readings

• [1] mun: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘m[...]’ B
• [1] ǫðru sinni: ‘o᷎dr[...]nne’ B, ‘o᷎drụ ṣịnne’(?) 399a‑bˣ, ‘o᷎dr[...] (s)[...](nn)æ’(?) BRydberg, ‘o᷎d(ru si)nne’(?) BFJ
• [2] hingat: ‘h[...]ngat’ B, ‘h(in)gat’(?) 399a‑bˣ
• [3] mána: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]ana’ B
• [3] tjalds: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘t[...]lldz’ B
• [4] til dóms at kveðja: ‘[...]m[...]ia’ B, ‘til dóms [...]ia’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘til doms a[...]dia’ BRydberg, ‘til dóms [...]ia’ BFJ
• [7] fyrða: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]da’ B

sources

Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.

• AM 757 a 4° (B) — 13r/1 - 13r/2

  Enn †m[...] o᷎dr[...]nne†
  ǫðlingr koma †h[...]ngat†
  †[...]ana t[...]lldz† inn mildi
  meðr †[...]m[...]ia† .
  Geisar eldr ok œsisk
  ǫlna fold; ór moldu
  ferð vaknar þá †[...]da†
  flest við ugg inn mesta.

  Enn m… o᷎dr…nne o᷎dlínngr koma h…gat …ana t…lldz enn millde meðr …m…ía geisar elldr | ok ęsíz o᷎lna folld or molldu ferd vaknar þa …da flest vid vgg enn mesta.

  (EB)

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• Lbs 444 4°x (444x)

• JS 399 a-b 4°x (399a-bx)

  Enn mun †o᷎drụ ṣịnne†
  ǫðlingr koma †h(in)gat†
  mána tjalds inn mildi
  meðr †til dóms [...]ia† .
  Geisar eldr ok œsisk
  ǫlna fold; ór moldu
  ferð vaknar þá fyrða
  flest við ugg inn mesta.

editions and texts