Kolb Jónv 3^VII

Sjalfr kallaði sællar
sólknarrar þik harri
son Máríe særir
sundhyrs, í kvǫl bundinn.
Ráð fal ræsir lýða
risnu kendr á hendi,
díks, áðr dauðann tœki,
dagrennir, þér hennar.

{Sjalfr harri {sólknarrar}} bundinn í kvǫl, kallaði þik son sællar Máríe, {særir {sundhyrs}}. {Ræsir lýða}, risnu kendr, fal hennar ráð á hendi þér, áðr dauðann tœki, {{díks dag}rennir}.

{The lord {of the sun-ship} [SKY/HEAVEN] himself} [= God (= Christ)], bound in torment, called you the son of the blessed Mary, {wounder {of strait-fire}} [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]. {The impeller of peoples} [= God (= Christ)], known for his munificence, placed her wellbeing in your hands before he took death, {mover {of the day of the ditch}} [(lit. ‘day-mover of the ditch’) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN].

Mss: 649a(47v) (Jón⁴)

Readings: [2] sólknarrar: sólknarri 649a    [3] særir: ‘sęrar’ 649a

Editions: Skj AII, 37, Skj BII, 46, Skald II, 29; Jón⁴ 1874, 512, Bugge 1874, 935, GBpB, 570n., Konráð Gislason 1877, 20-1, 32-3.

Context: See Introduction.

Notes: [2] harri sólknarrar ‘lord of the sun-ship [SKY/HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)]’: The ms. reading is sólknarri, which could be interpreted as a nom. form meaning ‘little ship of the sun’ (the form knarri ‘little ship’ is attested as a diminutive of knǫrr ‘ship’, cf. LP: knarri; Skj AI, 333; Arn Hryn 1/2^II). However the subject of the sentence Sjalfr ... bundinn ‘himself ... bound’ is harri ‘lord’, referring to Christ. All eds agree that the form sólknarri is an error and emend it to a gen. form sólknarra (gen. sg. or pl. of -knarri, Jón⁴ 1874, 935n., GBpB, 570n.; cf. Konráð Gíslason 1877, 20-1) or sólknarrar (gen. sg. of knǫrr, Skj B; Skald). The emended gen. form is regarded as the determinant in a kenning for Christ. Konráð Gíslason argues that a diminutive form sólknarri ‘little ship of the sun’ is not appropriate as a kenning for heaven (1877, 32) and suggests the emendation to sólknarrar (gen. sg. of sólknǫrr) adopted here. — [3-4] særir sundhyrs ‘wounder of strait-fire [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: The ms. reading is ‘sęrar’, which Bugge normalises to særar. This would be a nom. pl. of særir ‘sower’ and the base-word of a conventional man-kenning. Such a pl. særar sundhyrs ‘sowers of the strait-fire [GOLD > GENEROUS MEN]’, would be a vocative addressing the audience of the poem. Konráð Gíslason argues that it is implausible that a statement addressed directly to John (cf. þik ‘you’ 3/2) should contain an expression addressed directly to the audience of the poem as well. Since all the other sts quoted are addressed to John, Konráð Gíslason regards ‘sęrar’ = (særar) as a scribal error and suggests emendation to the sg. særir ‘sower’: the kenning særir sundhyrs ‘sower of the strait-fire [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’ would then be a term addressed to John, as in the case of the synonymous kenning díks dagrennir ‘mover of the day of the ditch [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’ in 3/7-8. — [7] áðr dauðann tœki ‘before he took death, died’: Skj B and Skald omit the enclitic art. and normalise dauðann to dauða (acc. sg. of dauði ‘death’). The use of the subj. after the conj. áðr is very common (NS §§301-2B, Anm., 304).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
7. Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1874. ‘Anmærkingar ved de til Jons saga IV henhørende viser’. In Unger 1874, 932-6.
8. GBpB = Guðmundar saga biskups (“B”). In Bskp, 559-604²⁶, 608²²-13⁶.
9. Jón⁴ 1874 = Jóns saga postula. In Unger 1874, 466-9³⁴, 470³³-513²².
10. Konráð Gíslason. 1877. Om helrim i förste og tredje linie af regelmæssigt ‘dróttkvætt’ og ‘hrynhenda’. Indbydelsesskrift til Kjøbenhavns universitets aarsfest til erindring om kirkens reformation. Copenhagen: Schultz.
11. Internal references
12. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 1’ 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. 183.
13. Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2007, ‘Níkulás Bergsson, Jónsdrápa postula 1’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 67.