Anon Leið 22VII
Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 22’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 160-1.
Engill ‘angel’
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1. engill (noun m.; °engils; englar): angel
kom ‘came’
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koma (verb; kem, kom/kvam, kominn): come
unga ‘a young’
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ungr (adj.): young
all ‘An altogether’
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all- ((prefix)): very < allheppinn (adj.)
heppinn ‘fortunate’
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heppinn (adj.; °comp. heppnari, superl. heppnastr): fortunate < allheppinn (adj.)
mey ‘maiden’
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mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden
spjalla ‘to speak’
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1. spjalla (verb): talk
burð ‘the birth’
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burðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -/-i; -ir): birth
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
buðlungs ‘of the king’
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buðlungr (noun m.; °; -ar): king, prince
kennings
buðlungs dýrðar.‘of the king of glory. ’
= God
the king of glory. → God
dýrðar ‘of glory’
(not checked:)
dýrð (noun f.; °-ar/-a(NoDipl(1279) 44²); -ir): glory
[3] dýrðar: dýrðir B, 624
kennings
buðlungs dýrðar.‘of the king of glory. ’
= God
the king of glory. → God
notes
[3] dýrðar ‘of glory’: B’s dýrðir must be emended to provide the correct gen. sg. form, an emendation first suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson in a marginal note to the 444ˣ transcript.
bauð ‘announced’
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bjóða (verb; °býðr; bauð, buðu; boðinn (buð- Thom¹ 5²n.)): offer, order, invite
hann ‘he’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
frǫmum ‘to the foremost’
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framr (adj.; °compar. framari/fremri, superl. framastr/fremstr): outstanding, foremost
svanna ‘lady’
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svanni (noun m.): lady, woman
Brims ‘of the sea’
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brim (noun n.): surf
[5] Brims: corrected from ‘grims’ in margin in a different hand 624
kennings
In fremsta bjǫrk brands brims‘The foremost birch of the fire of the sea ’
= WOMAN
the fire of the sea → GOLD
The foremost birch of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[5-6] bjǫrk brims brands ‘birch of the fire of the sea [GOLD > WOMAN]’: A kenning for ‘woman’ is clearly required here. In that context, it has not been possible to make sense of B’s reading ‘banndz’, which could be gen. sg. of band ‘a bond, fetter, team, confederacy etc.’, sometimes used in pl. of the Norse gods. In a n. to Jón Sigurðsson’s transcript of 624 in 444(2)ˣ, Sveinbjörn Egilsson suggested emendation to beins, gen. sg. of beinn ‘ebony’, which is listed among heiti for ‘tree’ in a þula but is not attested elesewhere (LP: 1. beinn). Aside from its rarity, the noun does not work in a kenning which already has a tree-element, bjǫrk f. ‘birch’ in l. 5. Sveinbjörn rethought this emendation in preparing his printed edn (1844, 62 n. 10), in which he emended to brands gen. sg. of m. brandr ‘fire, flame’. This creates the gold-kenning, brandr brims ‘flame of the sea’, whose bjǫrk is a woman, in this case the Virgin Mary. Sveinbjörn’s second emendation has been adopted by all subsequent eds.
Brims ‘of the sea’
(not checked:)
brim (noun n.): surf
[5] Brims: corrected from ‘grims’ in margin in a different hand 624
kennings
In fremsta bjǫrk brands brims‘The foremost birch of the fire of the sea ’
= WOMAN
the fire of the sea → GOLD
The foremost birch of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[5-6] bjǫrk brims brands ‘birch of the fire of the sea [GOLD > WOMAN]’: A kenning for ‘woman’ is clearly required here. In that context, it has not been possible to make sense of B’s reading ‘banndz’, which could be gen. sg. of band ‘a bond, fetter, team, confederacy etc.’, sometimes used in pl. of the Norse gods. In a n. to Jón Sigurðsson’s transcript of 624 in 444(2)ˣ, Sveinbjörn Egilsson suggested emendation to beins, gen. sg. of beinn ‘ebony’, which is listed among heiti for ‘tree’ in a þula but is not attested elesewhere (LP: 1. beinn). Aside from its rarity, the noun does not work in a kenning which already has a tree-element, bjǫrk f. ‘birch’ in l. 5. Sveinbjörn rethought this emendation in preparing his printed edn (1844, 62 n. 10), in which he emended to brands gen. sg. of m. brandr ‘fire, flame’. This creates the gold-kenning, brandr brims ‘flame of the sea’, whose bjǫrk is a woman, in this case the Virgin Mary. Sveinbjörn’s second emendation has been adopted by all subsequent eds.
tók ‘received’
(not checked:)
2. taka (verb): take
bjǫrk ‘birch’
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bjǫrk (noun f.): birch
kennings
In fremsta bjǫrk brands brims‘The foremost birch of the fire of the sea ’
= WOMAN
the fire of the sea → GOLD
The foremost birch of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[5-6] bjǫrk brims brands ‘birch of the fire of the sea [GOLD > WOMAN]’: A kenning for ‘woman’ is clearly required here. In that context, it has not been possible to make sense of B’s reading ‘banndz’, which could be gen. sg. of band ‘a bond, fetter, team, confederacy etc.’, sometimes used in pl. of the Norse gods. In a n. to Jón Sigurðsson’s transcript of 624 in 444(2)ˣ, Sveinbjörn Egilsson suggested emendation to beins, gen. sg. of beinn ‘ebony’, which is listed among heiti for ‘tree’ in a þula but is not attested elesewhere (LP: 1. beinn). Aside from its rarity, the noun does not work in a kenning which already has a tree-element, bjǫrk f. ‘birch’ in l. 5. Sveinbjörn rethought this emendation in preparing his printed edn (1844, 62 n. 10), in which he emended to brands gen. sg. of m. brandr ‘fire, flame’. This creates the gold-kenning, brandr brims ‘flame of the sea’, whose bjǫrk is a woman, in this case the Virgin Mary. Sveinbjörn’s second emendation has been adopted by all subsequent eds.
in ‘The’
(not checked:)
2. inn (art.): the
kennings
In fremsta bjǫrk brands brims‘The foremost birch of the fire of the sea ’
= WOMAN
the fire of the sea → GOLD
The foremost birch of the GOLD → WOMAN
fremsta ‘foremost’
(not checked:)
framr (adj.; °compar. framari/fremri, superl. framastr/fremstr): outstanding, foremost
kennings
In fremsta bjǫrk brands brims‘The foremost birch of the fire of the sea ’
= WOMAN
the fire of the sea → GOLD
The foremost birch of the GOLD → WOMAN
brands ‘of the fire’
(not checked:)
brandr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): sword, prow; fire
[6] brands: ‘banndz’ B, 624
kennings
In fremsta bjǫrk brands brims‘The foremost birch of the fire of the sea ’
= WOMAN
the fire of the sea → GOLD
The foremost birch of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[5-6] bjǫrk brims brands ‘birch of the fire of the sea [GOLD > WOMAN]’: A kenning for ‘woman’ is clearly required here. In that context, it has not been possible to make sense of B’s reading ‘banndz’, which could be gen. sg. of band ‘a bond, fetter, team, confederacy etc.’, sometimes used in pl. of the Norse gods. In a n. to Jón Sigurðsson’s transcript of 624 in 444(2)ˣ, Sveinbjörn Egilsson suggested emendation to beins, gen. sg. of beinn ‘ebony’, which is listed among heiti for ‘tree’ in a þula but is not attested elesewhere (LP: 1. beinn). Aside from its rarity, the noun does not work in a kenning which already has a tree-element, bjǫrk f. ‘birch’ in l. 5. Sveinbjörn rethought this emendation in preparing his printed edn (1844, 62 n. 10), in which he emended to brands gen. sg. of m. brandr ‘fire, flame’. This creates the gold-kenning, brandr brims ‘flame of the sea’, whose bjǫrk is a woman, in this case the Virgin Mary. Sveinbjörn’s second emendation has been adopted by all subsequent eds.
brands ‘of the fire’
(not checked:)
brandr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): sword, prow; fire
[6] brands: ‘banndz’ B, 624
kennings
In fremsta bjǫrk brands brims‘The foremost birch of the fire of the sea ’
= WOMAN
the fire of the sea → GOLD
The foremost birch of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[5-6] bjǫrk brims brands ‘birch of the fire of the sea [GOLD > WOMAN]’: A kenning for ‘woman’ is clearly required here. In that context, it has not been possible to make sense of B’s reading ‘banndz’, which could be gen. sg. of band ‘a bond, fetter, team, confederacy etc.’, sometimes used in pl. of the Norse gods. In a n. to Jón Sigurðsson’s transcript of 624 in 444(2)ˣ, Sveinbjörn Egilsson suggested emendation to beins, gen. sg. of beinn ‘ebony’, which is listed among heiti for ‘tree’ in a þula but is not attested elesewhere (LP: 1. beinn). Aside from its rarity, the noun does not work in a kenning which already has a tree-element, bjǫrk f. ‘birch’ in l. 5. Sveinbjörn rethought this emendation in preparing his printed edn (1844, 62 n. 10), in which he emended to brands gen. sg. of m. brandr ‘fire, flame’. This creates the gold-kenning, brandr brims ‘flame of the sea’, whose bjǫrk is a woman, in this case the Virgin Mary. Sveinbjörn’s second emendation has been adopted by all subsequent eds.
við ‘’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
helgum ‘the Holy’
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heilagr (adj.; °helgan; compar. -ari, superl. -astr): holy, sacred
anda ‘Spirit’
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andi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): spirit, soul
frétt ‘heard’
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1. fregna (verb): hear of
at ‘that’
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4. at (conj.): that
dag ‘day’
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dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹n.); -ar): day
dróttins ‘on the Lord’s’
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dróttinn (noun m.; °dróttins, dat. dróttni (drottini [$1049$]); dróttnar): lord, master
dýrð ‘glory’
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dýrð (noun f.; °-ar/-a(NoDipl(1279) 44²); -ir): glory
framm ‘about’
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fram (adv.): out, forth, forwards, away
komin ‘’
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koma (verb; kem, kom/kvam, kominn): come
yrði ‘was brought’
(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
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Engill kom við unga |
An altogether fortunate angel came to speak with a young maiden, and he announced to the foremost lady the birth of the king of glory [= God (= Christ)]. The foremost birch of the fire of the sea [GOLD > WOMAN] received the Holy Spirit; I have heard that this glory was brought about on the Lord’s day.
Sts 22-4 recount events leading up to the birth and baptism of Christ. Gabriel’s Annunciation of the birth of Christ to the Virgin Mary is recounted in Luke I.26-38. The account in Leið has some conceptual similarities to that found in the sermon for the Feast of the Assumption in HómÍsl 1872, 138: seɴdi guþ drottiɴ engil siɴ ɢabriel til fundar viþ mario meþ þui eyrende at segia henni þat at guþ siálfr kaus hana til móþor sér. oc hon scyllde verþa hafandi at guþs syni. en þat eyreɴdi bar engilleɴ heɴi a þessom degi er nu hꜵlldom vér ‘The Lord God sent his angel Gabriel to meet with Mary with the purpose of telling her that God himself chose her to be his own mother, and she would bear God’s son. And the angel brought her that message on this day which we now celebrate’.
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