Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 52

Katrina Attwood

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Gamlkan Has 52^VII

Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 52’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 119-20.

Gamli kanóki Harmsól

51 52 53

Hlaut ‘received’

(not checked:)
hljóta (verb): alot, gain

Máría ‘Mary’

(not checked:)
María (noun f.): Mary

notes

[1] Máría ‘Mary [Magdalene]’: Bugge (1889a, 22) wrongly interprets this as a reference to the Virgin Mary. The identification of the repentant sinner who annoints Christ’s feet in Luke VII.36-9 with the woman who does the same thing, but is not described as a sinner, in Mark XIV.3-9 and Matt. XXVI.6-13 is a logical one. The identification of this conflated character with Mary Magdalene, which seems to date at least from C6th (Warner 2000, 226-8), is presumably due to a literal interpretation of Christ’s words mittens enim haec unguentum hoc in corpus meum ad sepeliendum me fecit ‘for she in pouring this ointment upon my body, hath done it for my burial’ (Matt. XXVI.12). Mary Magdalene’s repentance is also the subject of Anon Mey 11-13. Her cult is generally held to have begun after 1200 in Iceland; there was reportedly an image of her at Þykkvabær monastery, though its age cannot be determined, and may well have dated from after Gamli’s time (Cormack 1994, 130).

mætum ‘the illustrious’

(not checked:)
mætr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -astr): honoured, respected

kennings

mætum gram sunnu,
‘the illustrious prince of the sun, ’
= God
the illustrious prince of the sun, → God

miskunn ‘mercy’

(not checked:)
miskunn (noun f.; °-ar; gen. -a): forgiveness, mercy, grace

notes

[2] miskunn af gram sunnu ‘mercy from the prince of the sun’: The miskunn:sunnu rhyme is also exploited at 65/4 miskunn jǫfurr sunnu. This l. also occurs in Leið 42/6.

af ‘from’

(not checked:)
af (prep.): from

notes

[2] miskunn af gram sunnu ‘mercy from the prince of the sun’: The miskunn:sunnu rhyme is also exploited at 65/4 miskunn jǫfurr sunnu. This l. also occurs in Leið 42/6.

gram ‘prince’

(not checked:)
1. gramr (noun m.): ruler

kennings

mætum gram sunnu,
‘the illustrious prince of the sun, ’
= God
the illustrious prince of the sun, → God

notes

[2] miskunn af gram sunnu ‘mercy from the prince of the sun’: The miskunn:sunnu rhyme is also exploited at 65/4 miskunn jǫfurr sunnu. This l. also occurs in Leið 42/6.

sunnu ‘of the sun’

(not checked:)
sunna (noun f.): sun

kennings

mætum gram sunnu,
‘the illustrious prince of the sun, ’
= God
the illustrious prince of the sun, → God

notes

[2] miskunn af gram sunnu ‘mercy from the prince of the sun’: The miskunn:sunnu rhyme is also exploited at 65/4 miskunn jǫfurr sunnu. This l. also occurs in Leið 42/6.

víns ‘of wine’

(not checked:)
vín (noun n.; °-s; -): wine

[3] víns: ‘v[...]s’ B, ‘vịṇs’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘vi(ns)’(?) BRydberg, ‘vi(n)s’(?) BFJ

kennings

Vôr víns
‘the Vôr of wine ’
= WOMAN = Mary Magdalene
the Vôr of wine → WOMAN = Mary Magdalene

notes

[3-4] Vôr víns ‘Vôr of wine [WOMAN > = Mary Magdalene]’: Vr is listed among the Ásynjur in Gylf (SnE 1982, 29). The woman-kenning Vr lauka (‘Vr of leeks’) occurs in a lv. attributed to Gísli Súrsson (GSúrs Lv 33/6-7^V).

þás ‘when’

(not checked:)
2. þá (adv.): then

virða ‘of men’

(not checked:)
virðr (noun m.): man

kennings

reynis virða
‘of the tester of men ’
= God
the tester of men → God

reynis ‘of the tester’

(not checked:)
2. reynir (noun m.): tester

kennings

reynis virða
‘of the tester of men ’
= God
the tester of men → God

Vôr ‘the Vôr’

(not checked:)
2. Vár (noun f.; °-s; -): a goddess

kennings

Vôr víns
‘the Vôr of wine ’
= WOMAN = Mary Magdalene
the Vôr of wine → WOMAN = Mary Magdalene

notes

þó ‘washed’

(not checked:)
1. þvá (verb): wash

fœtr ‘the feet’

(not checked:)
1. fótr (noun m.): foot, leg

[4] fœtr með: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]ed’ B

með ‘with’

(not checked:)
með (prep.): with

[4] fœtr með: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]ed’ B

tárum ‘tears’

(not checked:)
tár (noun n.; °; -): tear

Snjallr ‘The wise’

(not checked:)
snjallr (adj.): quick, resourceful, bold

kennings

Snjallr vǫrðr gumna
‘The wise guardian of men ’
= God
The wise guardian of men → God

[7] gumna: ‘[...]a’ B, ‘gụṃṇa’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...](n)a’(?) BRydberg, ‘(gumn)a’(?) BFJ

kennings

Snjallr vǫrðr gumna
‘The wise guardian of men ’
= God
The wise guardian of men → God

vǫrðr ‘guardian’

(not checked:)
vǫrðr (noun m.; °varðar, dat. verði/vǫrð; verðir, acc. vǫrðu): guardian, defender

kennings

Snjallr vǫrðr gumna
‘The wise guardian of men ’
= God
The wise guardian of men → God

þeim ‘’

(not checked:)
1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

s ‘which’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

gerði ‘she had committed’

(not checked:)
1. gera (verb): do, make

guði ‘in God’

(not checked:)
1. guð (noun m.; °***guðrs, guðis, gus): (Christian) God

treystisk ‘trusted’

(not checked:)
treysta (verb): trust, believe in

Bil ‘Bil’

(not checked:)
Bil (noun f.): Bil

notes

[8] Bil ‘Bil <goddess>’: Kock (NN §1209) notes that previous eds have been reluctant to accept that Bil can stand alone as a half-kenning. There is, as he says, an undue concern for the plight of oklädda guddinor ‘naked goddesses’, that is, goddess names that are not qualified by a term for gold or treasure or some female attribute (cf. LP: Bil). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) attempts to provide such an attribute by emending gerði (l. 7) to gerðu, gen. sg. of gerða ‘feminine attire’, producing the woman-kenning Bil gerðu ‘goddess of clothing’. This necessitates the omission of þeim (l. 7). Rydberg (1907, lxxiv) approves Finnur’s emendation, and suggests that þá er could be substituted for the ms. reading here, taking the intercalated phrase to be þá er Bil gerðu treystisk guði ‘when the goddess of clothing trusted God’. As Kock (NN §§1209, 1072) suggests, this ‘prudery’ is a feature of Finnur’s edn: it is interesting to note that, of the four occurrences of gerða listed in LP, three appear in conjunction with a goddess-name, and two of those depend on emendation. There is no obvious reason why the ms. reading cannot be retained here, and Bil treated, as Kock (NN §1209) suggests, as a half-kenning for ‘woman’.

leysta ‘released’

(not checked:)
leysa (verb): release, loosen, redeem

Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

verse
prose

© Skaldic Project Academic Body and Brepols, unless otherwise noted. Database structure and interface developed by Tarrin Wills. All users of material on this database are reminded that its content may be either subject to copyright restrictions or is the property of the custodians of linked databases that have given permission for members of the skaldic project to use their material for research purposes. Those users who have been given access to as yet unpublished material are further reminded that they may not use, publish or otherwise manipulate such material except with the express permission of the individual editor of the material in question and the General Editor of the volume in which the material is to be published. Applications for permission to use such material should be made in the first instance to the General Editor of the volume in question. All information that appears in the published volumes has been thoroughly reviewed. If you believe some information here is incorrect please contact Tarrin Wills with full details.

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.

Cookies on our website

Gamlkan Has 52VII

Hlaut ‘received’

Máría ‘Mary’

notes

mætum ‘the illustrious’

kennings

miskunn ‘mercy’

notes

af ‘from’

notes

gram ‘prince’

kennings

notes

sunnu ‘of the sun’

kennings

notes

víns ‘of wine’

kennings

notes

þás ‘when’

virða ‘of men’

kennings

reynis ‘of the tester’

kennings

Vôr ‘the Vôr’

kennings

notes

þó ‘washed’

fœtr ‘the feet’

með ‘with’

tárum ‘tears’

Snjallr ‘The wise’

kennings

vann ‘’

snót ‘the woman’

frá ‘from’

ǫllum ‘all’

senn ‘immediately’

mis ‘sins’

gerðum ‘’

hennar ‘her’

gumna ‘of men’

kennings

vǫrðr ‘guardian’

kennings

þeim ‘’

s ‘which’

gerði ‘she had committed’

guði ‘in God’

treystisk ‘trusted’

Bil ‘Bil’

notes

leysta ‘released’

Log in

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Information tab

Interactive tab

Full text tab

Chapter/text segment

Gamlkan Has 52^VII