Ník Jóndr 3^VII

Sjalfr unni þér sinna
snjallr postola allra
sal deilandi sólar
siklingr framast miklu.
Hátt gengr vegr, sás veitir
vagnbryggju þér tyggi;
Jón, est hreinstr und háva
hjarlborg skapaðr karla.

Sjalfr snjallr siklingr, deilandi {sal sólar}, unni þér miklu framast allra sinna postola; vegr, sás {tyggi {vagnbryggju}} veitir þér, gengr hátt; Jón, est skapaðr hreinstr karla und {háva hjarlborg}.

The wise Lord himself, sharing out {the hall of the sun} [SKY/HEAVEN], loved you by far the most of all his Apostles. The honour which {the ruler {of the wagon-bridge}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God] grants to you rises high; John, you are created the most pure of men under {the high earth-castle} [SKY/HEAVEN].

Mss: 649a(46r) (Jón⁴)

Editions: Skj AI, 560, Skj BI, 546, Skald I, 265; Jón⁴ 1874, 510, Bugge 1874, 933, Lange 1958a, 79.

Context: In Jón⁴ this st. is introduced with the remark: I þriði stað segir hann sva blezaðr af sama sętleik elskunnar ‘In third place [in the poem] it says that he [John] was thus blessed with the same sweetness of love’.

Notes: [All]: This st. refers to S. John’s status as ‘the Apostle whom Jesus loved’ (cf. John XIII.23, XIX.26, XXI.7 and 20). — [2-3] deilandi sal sólar ‘sharing out the hall of the sun’: Following Bugge (1874, 933), this phrase is understood as ‘who gives/is giving (men) a share in the hall of the sun [HEAVEN]’ and thus as a reference to the entrance to heaven granted by Christ to men by means of his death on the Cross. — [6] vagnbryggju ‘of the wagon-bridge’: That is, bridge of the Great Bear. The constellation Ursa Major ‘Great Bear’ or ‘Big Dipper’ is called vagn ‘Wagon’ in ON (AÍ II, cxlv, 250), cf. the OE name for this constellation, carles wæn ‘wagon of the churl’, later ‘Charles’s Wain’. The word ‘wagon’ is appropriate to the metaphor ‘bridge of the Wagon’ as a kenning for sky or heaven.

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. AÍ = Kålund, Kristian and Natanael Beckman. 1908-18. Alfræði íslenzk: Islandsk encyklopædisk litteratur. 3 vols. SUGNL 37, 41 and 45. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1874. ‘Anmærkingar ved de til Jons saga IV henhørende viser’. In Unger 1874, 932-6.
7. Jón⁴ 1874 = Jóns saga postula. In Unger 1874, 466-9³⁴, 470³³-513²².
8. Lange, Wolfgang. 1958a. Studien zur christlichen Dichtung der Nordgermanen 1000-1200. Palaestra 222. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
9. Lange, Wolfgang. 1958b. Christliche Skaldendichtung. Kleine Vandenhoeck-Reihe 54. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.
10. Internal references
11. Not published: do not cite ()
12. 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.