Gamlkan Has 63^VII

Ér látið þau, ýta,
atferðar lok verða,
miskunnandi, minnar,
margríkr, at þér líki,
svát frá yðr í ítru
— oss kjósum þat — ljósi,
veglyndr veðra grundar
valdr, skiljumk ek aldri.

{Margríkr miskunnandi ýta}, ér látið þau lok atferðar minnar verða, at líki þér, svát ek skiljumk aldri frá yðr í ítru ljósi, {veglyndr valdr {grundar veðra}}; kjósum oss þat.

{Very powerful pardoner of men} [= Christ], you allow the endings of my life’s course to turn out in such a way that it pleases you, so that I will never be parted from you in glorious light, {honour-minded ruler {of the plain of the winds}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]; we [I] choose that for ourselves [myself].

Mss: B(13v), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [2] atferðar lok verða: ‘atferd[...]k[...]’ B, ‘atferdar lok ṿẹṛð(a)’(?) 399a‑bˣ    [7] veg‑: ‘v[...]’ B, ‘vegh’ 399a‑bˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 571, Skj BI, 564, Skald I, 274; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 33, Kempff 1867, 19, Rydberg 1907, 31, Black 1971, 296, Attwood 1996a, 237.

Notes: [1] ér ‘you’: An accent is written over the r. Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1844), who is followed by Kempff, follows the 399a-bˣ copyist in interpreting the accent as the common nasal abbreviation, producing ‘Ern’. Rydberg concurs, though he notes (1907, 31 n. 10) that Ér in Líkn 44/1 (fol 12r, l. 24) is remarkably similar to the form here. There is no doubt that Ér is the correct reading in that case. Sveinbjörn takes ern to be the nom. sg. of ern adj. ‘vigorous’, qualifying the God-kenning miskunnandi ýta in apposition with margríkr. He construes Ern miskunnandi ýta margríkr, látið þau lok verða atferðar minnar... ‘Vigorous, very powerful pardoner of men [= God (= Christ)]], you allow the endings of my life’s course to turn out...’. This edn follows Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), Black (1971, 296) and Kock (Skald) in reading Ér, the archaic form of the honorific pl. pron. (see ANG §§464, Anm. 5 and 465, Anm. 5), construed with the adjacent látið ‘you allow’ (l. 1). — [6] margríkr ‘very powerful’: LP lists no occurrence of this cpd. outside Has. Cf. 56/6 margríkr : líknar.

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. 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.
5. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
6. 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.
7. Black, Elizabeth L. 1971. ‘Harmsól: an edition’. B. Litt. thesis. University of Oxford.
8. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
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
13. George S. Tate (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Líknarbraut 44’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 280.
14. 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 19 April 2024)