Gamlkan Has 59^VII

Hlut meguð hvern til gotna,
happkunnig, miskunnar
ramligs bús af ræsi
rǫðuls, Máría, ǫðlask.
Vest ávalt at trausti,
vegstýris, mér dýru,
mild, at missak aldri,
móðir *, yðvars góða.

Happkunnig Máría, meguð ǫðlask hvern hlut af {ræsi {ramligs bús rǫðuls}} til miskunnar gotna. Vest ávalt mér at dýru trausti, {mild móðir * {vegstýris}}, at missak aldri góða yðvars.

Mary, you renowned for good fortune, can obtain everything from {the king {of the strong homestead of the sun}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God] for mercy for men. Always be a precious support to me, {gentle mother {of the honour-controller}} [= God (= Christ) > = Mary], so that I may never lose your goodwill.

Mss: B(13v), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [1] hvern: ‘hu[...]n’ B, ‘hu(er)n’(?) 399a‑bˣ    [6] mér: ‘[...]’ B, ‘[...]er’ 399a‑bˣ    [8] móðir *: ‘moder guds’ B;    yðvars: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘ydu[...]’ B

Editions: Skj AI, 571, Skj BI, 563, Skald I, 273; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 32, Kempff 1867, 18, Rydberg 1907, 30, Jón Helgason 1935-36, 262, Black 1971, 287, Attwood 1996a, 236.

Notes: [1] happkunnig ‘renowned for good fortune’: Cf. 57/1-2, where Christ is characterised as happvinnandi hǫlða ‘luck-worker of men’. — [3] ramligs bús af ræsi: A strikingly similar l. occurs in Leið 43/7 ramligt hús, þars reistum. Jón Helgason (1935-6, 262) objects to the Christ-kenning ræsir bús rǫðuls ‘king of the dwelling of the sun’, as rǫðuls bú ‘sun’s dwelling’ is apparently without parallel in the skaldic corpus. Jón suggests that bús be emended to býs, which gives the Christ-kenning ræsir býs rǫðuls ‘king of the farm of the sun’, which occurs again at Líkn 19/3. The ms. reading is certain, and the Líkn kenning could well be an ‘embroidery’ on Has. There seems little justification for adopting Jón’s emendation here. — [8] móðir * yðvars góða: B’s guðs is metrically otiose, and also, as indicated by the prose order above, semantically so. Its inclusion in B is probably best explained as a lapse by the copyist, distracted by the coexistence of the words Máría and móðir into writing the liturgical commonplace móðir guðs ‘mother of God’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
4. 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.
5. Black, Elizabeth L. 1971. ‘Harmsól: an edition’. B. Litt. thesis. University of Oxford.
6. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Jón Helgason. 1935-6. ‘Til skjaldedigtningen’. APS 10, 250-64.
8. Kempff, Hjalmar, ed. 1867. Kaniken Gamles ‘Harmsól’ (Sol i Sorgen): isländskt andligt qväde från medeltiden med öfversättning och förklaringar. Uppsala: Edquist & Berglund.
9. 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.
10. Internal references
11. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Droplaugarsona saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 136-150. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=24> (accessed 2 May 2024)
13. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 43’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 176-7.
14. George S. Tate (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Líknarbraut 19’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 250.
15. George S. Tate 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Líknarbraut’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 228-86. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1024> (accessed 2 May 2024)
16. Katrina Attwood 2007, ‘ Gamli kanóki, Harmsól’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 70-132. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1196> (accessed 2 May 2024)