Gamlkan Has 4^VII

Mér vil ek ok eirar
— oss byrjar þat — hnossa
himins stillandi hollrar
hæstr miskunnar æsta,
þótt óverðum orðum,
ítr fylkir, mik lítir
víst fyr vás ok lǫstu,
veðrhallar, þik kveðja.

Ek vil æsta mér hollrar miskunnar ok eirar, {hæstr stillandi {hnossa himins}} — þat byrjar oss —, þótt lítir mik, {ítr fylkir {veðrhallar}}, kveðja þik óverðum orðum, víst fyr vás ok lǫstu.

I wish to ask on my own behalf for wholesome grace and clemency, {highest regulator {of the ornaments of heaven}} [HEAVENLY BODIES > = God] — that is fitting for us [me] —, though you see me, {glorious king {of the storm-hall}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God], call on you with unworthy words, surely because of sinfulness and flaws.

Mss: B(12r), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [4] hæstr: ‘he᷎st’ all    [6] fylkir: so 399a‑bˣ, BFJ, ‘[...]lker’ B, (fý)lkir(?) BRydberg;    lítir: líta B    [7] fyr: so 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘[...]r’ B;    vás: ‘[...]os’ B, ‘vos’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘(v)os’(?) BRydberg, BFJ    [8] kveðja: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘kue[...]ia’ B, ‘kue(d)ia’(?) BRydberg, BFJ

Editions: Skj AI, 562, Skj BI, 549, Skald I, 266, NN §§2926, 2927; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 14, Kempff 1867, 2, Rydberg 1907, 20-1, Black 1971, 134, Attwood 1996a, 222.

Notes: [2-4]: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) understands hnossa hollrar miskunnar ‘ornaments of wholesome mercy’ as the object of the verb æsta, which takes the gen. of the thing requested (l. 4), and he translates din kendte miskundheds goder ‘the benefits of your well-known mercy’. Jón Helgason (1935-6, 252), anticipated by Kempff (1867, 24) takes hnossa ‘ornaments’ to be part of the God-kenning stillandi hnossa himins ‘regulator of the ornaments of heaven’. This recalls the God-kenning harri fagrgims hás hreggranns ‘king of the fair jewel of the high storm-house [SKY/HEAVEN > SUN > = God]’ in Leið 2/1-4. This arrangement is adopted by Kock (NN §2927) and Black (1971, 144). In NN §2803, Kock suggests the arrangement hollrar miskunnar ok hnossa eirar ‘of wholesome mercy and treasures of clemency’, which he rejects in §2927. — [4] hæstr ‘highest’: Sveinbjörn Egilsson (note in 444ˣ) suggests that B drops the final ‘r’ for the sake of euphony. He corrects to hæstr, m. sg. nom. of the sup. of hár (adj.) ‘high’. This emendation has been adopted by all subsequent eds. — [7] víst fyr vás ok lǫstu: Cf. Anon Líkn 12/7: víst fyr vára lǫstu ‘surely on account of our flaws’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
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. Jón Helgason. 1935-6. ‘Til skjaldedigtningen’. APS 10, 250-64.
9. Kempff, Hjalmar, ed. 1867. Kaniken Gamles ‘Harmsól’ (Sol i Sorgen): isländskt andligt qväde från medeltiden med öfversättning och förklaringar. Uppsala: Edquist & Berglund.
10. 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.
11. Internal references
12. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 2’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 142.
13. George S. Tate (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Líknarbraut 12’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 243-4.