Gamlkan Has 32^VII

Engr mun alls á þingi
ísheims vesa þvísa
jóskreytandi ítrum
óttalauss fyr dróttni,
éla vangs þvít englar
jǫfurs skjalfa þá sjalfir
— ógn tekr môttug magnask —
mæts við ugg ok hræzlu.

{Alls engr {{ísheims} jó}skreytandi} mun vesa óttalauss fyr ítrum dróttni á þvísa þingi, þvít sjalfir englar {mæts jǫfurs {vangs éla}} skjalfa þá við ugg ok hræzlu; môttug ógn tekr magnask.

{Not a single adorner {of the horse {of the ice-world}}} [(lit. ‘horse-adorner of the ice-world’) SEA > SHIP > SEAFARER] will be fearless before the glorious Lord at this assembly, for the very angels {of the worthy king {of the field of storms}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God] will tremble then with fear and dread; mighty terror will begin to increase.

Mss: B(13r), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [1] Engr: engi B;    þingi: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘þing[...]’ B    [4] fyr: ‘[...]iri’ B, til 399a‑bˣ;    dróttni: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]rottne’ B    [8] hræzlu: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘hrę[...]’ B

Editions: Skj AI, 566, Skj BI, 556, Skald I, 270; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 23, Kempff 1867, 10, Rydberg 1907, 26, Black 1971, 221, Attwood 1996a, 229.

Notes: [1-3] alls engr ísheims jóskreytandi ‘not a single adorner of the horse of the ice-world [SEA > SHIP > SEAFARER]’: Cf. the man-kenning jóskreytandi reggstrindar ‘adorner of the horse of the land of the ship’ in Anon Óldr 4/1, 3^I. Ísheimr is a hap. leg. (LP: ísheimr). — [1] engr: B’s engi makes the l. hypermetrical, so has been emended to engr. — [1] á þingi ‘at the assembly’: For a similar use of the indigenous term þing ‘assembly, meeting’ to refer to the gathering of men at the Last Judgement, see Líkn 27/1 á þingi þessu and 26/6 til alþingis. — [2] þvísa ‘this’: Archaic n. dat. sg. form = þessu (ANG §470, Anm. 2), adopted to provide aðalhending with ís-. — [4] óttalauss fyr dróttni ‘fearless before the Lord’: Lines on this pattern occur frequently in Christian poetry. Cf. Has 36/6 óttlaust af því móti ‘fearless from the meeting’, and Líkn 52/6 óttlaust með þér dróttinn ‘fearless with you, Lord’. Almost identical ll. occur three times in Leið, always in sts describing the peace of heaven, where the saved will live óttalauss með dróttni ‘fearless with the Lord’, either as a result of their own prayers (40/6), or of Christ’s intervention at the Last Judgement (41/8). The first refrain in Leið, which describes the praise of angels and men, contains the l. óttlaust ok lið dróttni (13/6). — [5-6] sjalfir englar … skjalfa ‘the very angels [of the Lord] will tremble’: Black (1971, 222) notes that HómÍsl sermon for All Saints’ Day has an interesting parallel: þar es ótte sva mikill oc andvare at þeim dóme at þa skiálfa englar guþs oc aller helger meɴ ‘there will be such great terror and trepidation at the Judgement that the angels of God and all holy men will tremble’ (HómÍsl 1872, 45). That the saints will tremble at the Second Coming is also mentioned in the sermon on the Holy Spirit: eɴda muno skiálfa aller helger. mikil mon þa ógn í heime vera. es conungr kømr reíþr ‘and so all the saints will tremble, there will be great terror in the world, when the king comes in anger’ (HómÍsl 1872, 214). That the earth, and its inhabitants, will tremble at the day of the Lord is a biblical commonplace (see, for example, Ps. CXIII.7; Joel II.1, 10).

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. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
5. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
6. Black, Elizabeth L. 1971. ‘Harmsól: an edition’. B. Litt. thesis. University of Oxford.
7. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. HómÍsl 1872 = Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1872. Homiliu-bók: Isländska homilier efter en handskrift från tolfte århundredet. Lund: Gleerup.
9. HómÍsl = Íslensk hómilíubók (The Icelandic Homily Book).
10. Kempff, Hjalmar, ed. 1867. Kaniken Gamles ‘Harmsól’ (Sol i Sorgen): isländskt andligt qväde från medeltiden med öfversättning och förklaringar. Uppsala: Edquist & Berglund.
11. Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1844. Fjøgur gømul kvæði. Boðsrit til að hlusta á þá opinberu yfirheyrslu í Bessastaða Skóla þann 22-29 mai 1844. Viðeyar Klaustri: prentuð af Helga Helgasyni, á kostnað Bessastaða Skóla. Bessastaðir: Helgi Helgason.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Codex Frisianus’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=22> (accessed 27 April 2024)
14. George S. Tate (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Líknarbraut 27’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 257-8.
15. George S. Tate (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Líknarbraut 52’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 286.
16. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar 4’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1036.
17. Jonna Louis-Jensen and Tarrin Wills (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Plácitusdrápa 26’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 197-8.
18. Katrina Attwood 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Leiðarvísan’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 137-78. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1022> (accessed 27 April 2024)
19. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 36’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 104-5.