Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Anon Leið 24VII

Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 24’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 162-3.

Anonymous PoemsLeiðarvísan
232425

Lét ‘allowed’

(not checked:)
láta (verb): let, have sth done

Close

Jóhannem ‘John’

(not checked:)
Jóhannes (noun m.): [John, Johannes]

Close

ítran ‘the remarkable’

(not checked:)
ítr (adj.): glorious

Close

einn ‘a certain’

(not checked:)
2. einn (pron.; °decl. cf. einn num.): one, alone

notes

[2] einn ‘a certain’: Once again (cf. Note to 21/1) Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) understands einn to qualify stýrir alls tírar in the sense den eneste styrer af al hæder ‘the sole steerer of all glory’, referring to Christ. Here einn is construed with hreinan dýrðarmann as ‘a certain pure man of glory’ (l. 2).

Close

ár ‘long ago’

(not checked:)
4. ár (adv.): of yore, previously, early

Close

í ‘in’

(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into

Close

Jórðôn ‘the [River] Jordan’

(not checked:)
Jórdán (noun f.): River Jordan

Close

stýrir ‘The steerer’

(not checked:)
stýrir (noun m.): ruler, controller

kennings

Stýrir alls tírar
‘The steerer of all glory ’
   = God

The steerer of all glory → God
Close

alls ‘of all’

(not checked:)
allr (adj.): all

kennings

Stýrir alls tírar
‘The steerer of all glory ’
   = God

The steerer of all glory → God
Close

tírar ‘glory’

(not checked:)
tírr (noun m.; °-s): glory, honour

kennings

Stýrir alls tírar
‘The steerer of all glory ’
   = God

The steerer of all glory → God
Close

skíra ‘to baptise’

(not checked:)
skíra (verb): baptise, purify

Close

Dáðstéttar ‘of the deed-host’

(not checked:)
dáðstétt (noun f.)

kennings

dróttni dáðstéttar dags lands.
‘of the Lord of the deed-host of day’s land.’
   = God

day’s land. → SKY/HEAVEN
the deed-host of the SKY/HEAVEN → ANGELS
the Lord of ANGELS → God
Close

Dáðstéttar ‘of the deed-host’

(not checked:)
dáðstétt (noun f.)

kennings

dróttni dáðstéttar dags lands.
‘of the Lord of the deed-host of day’s land.’
   = God

day’s land. → SKY/HEAVEN
the deed-host of the SKY/HEAVEN → ANGELS
the Lord of ANGELS → God
Close

dróttni ‘of the Lord’

(not checked:)
dróttinn (noun m.; °dróttins, dat. dróttni (drottini [$1049$]); dróttnar): lord, master

kennings

dróttni dáðstéttar dags lands.
‘of the Lord of the deed-host of day’s land.’
   = God

day’s land. → SKY/HEAVEN
the deed-host of the SKY/HEAVEN → ANGELS
the Lord of ANGELS → God
Close

dags ‘of day’s’

(not checked:)
dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹‡n.); -ar): day

kennings

dróttni dáðstéttar dags lands.
‘of the Lord of the deed-host of day’s land.’
   = God

day’s land. → SKY/HEAVEN
the deed-host of the SKY/HEAVEN → ANGELS
the Lord of ANGELS → God
Close

dags ‘of day’s’

(not checked:)
dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹‡n.); -ar): day

kennings

dróttni dáðstéttar dags lands.
‘of the Lord of the deed-host of day’s land.’
   = God

day’s land. → SKY/HEAVEN
the deed-host of the SKY/HEAVEN → ANGELS
the Lord of ANGELS → God
Close

dags ‘of day’s’

(not checked:)
dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹‡n.); -ar): day

kennings

dróttni dáðstéttar dags lands.
‘of the Lord of the deed-host of day’s land.’
   = God

day’s land. → SKY/HEAVEN
the deed-host of the SKY/HEAVEN → ANGELS
the Lord of ANGELS → God
Close

ok ‘and’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

Close

krismu ‘chrism’

(not checked:)
1. krisma (noun f.; °-u): [chrism]

notes

[6-7] lagði krismu í lesni ‘laid chrism in the headband’: Anointing with chrism (a mixture of consecrated oil and balsam) was a standard part of medieval baptismal practice. That Iceland was no exception to the norm is confirmed by Bishop Árni Þorláksson’s ‘Boðskapur’ (DI II, 23-37), a series of instructions to clergy in his Skálholt diocese, which are dated September 1269, shortly after Árni’s accession to the see. They claim to confirm and update a similar document of Bishop Magnús Gizurarson (bishop of Skálholt 1216-29, 1231-7; DI I, 423-63) which is dated 1224, but does not include detail of baptismal practice. The version of Árni’s ‘Boðskapur’ preserved in AM 456 12° fols 130-6 discusses infant baptism at some length: ... þa skal [prestrinn] signa þat [barn] ok gefa sallt vigt ok lesa gudspiall yfir ok giora krossa yfir med hraka sinum fyri eyrum ok nosum ok leida i kirkiu. smyria sidan ä brioste ok millum herde med oleo sancto ok sidan med krisma j hǫfdi. færa j skirnar klædi ok fa kerti loganda j hond ... ‘Then the priest must sign the child and give it consecrated salt and read the gospel over it and make the sign of the cross over its ears and nose with his saliva and lead it into the church; then [the priest must] annoint [the child’s] breast and between its shoulders with holy oil and then annoint its head with chrism, put it into baptismal clothes and set a burning candle in its hand...’ (DI II, 26). An alternative version of Árni’s instructions, preserved in AM 456 12° fols 93-4, gives further details of the headband used to seal the chrism (DI II, 51): dregla suo langa at uel megi knyta um hofudit. ok suo breida at hyli krisma krossinu. ... Þriar nætur skulu dreglar um hofudit barnanna ok skulu mædurnar at geyma ok lata eigi at falla ... sidan skulu þuozt hǫfud barnanna j lut ok j uormu uatni ok kasta j elld dreglinum ‘the band [should be] so long that it can be wound around the head, and so broad as to hide the chrism cross ... the children must wear the bands round their heads for three nights and their mothers must look after them and not allow them to fall ... then they must wash the heads of the children in lye and warm water and throw the bands into the fire’. Tveitane (1966, 131 n. 3) argued that the use of the word krisma ‘chrism’ indicates a direct borrowing from the Pseudo-Wulfstan homily Sermo angelorum nomina (Pseudo-Wulfstan Homily XLV, in Napier 1883, 226-32). However, there are considerable differences between the two accounts of the baptism. In the OE text, and its Lat. source Epistola Salvatoris Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Priebsch 1899, 130-4), Christ is anointed with both oil and chrism, while Leið mentions only chrism. Although the Lat. text includes no account of Christ’s salutation as the Son of God, the OE indicates that, after John had baptised and anointed him, an angel came from heaven and announced: Þis is min leofa sunu, on þæm ic me wel gelicode, geherað him wel ‘This is my dear son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen carefully to him’ (Napier 1883, 229). Leið credits John only with the baptism itself and asserts that the Holy Spirit performed the anointing (24/5-8).

Close

lagði ‘laid’

(not checked:)
leggja (verb): put, lay

notes

[6-7] lagði krismu í lesni ‘laid chrism in the headband’: Anointing with chrism (a mixture of consecrated oil and balsam) was a standard part of medieval baptismal practice. That Iceland was no exception to the norm is confirmed by Bishop Árni Þorláksson’s ‘Boðskapur’ (DI II, 23-37), a series of instructions to clergy in his Skálholt diocese, which are dated September 1269, shortly after Árni’s accession to the see. They claim to confirm and update a similar document of Bishop Magnús Gizurarson (bishop of Skálholt 1216-29, 1231-7; DI I, 423-63) which is dated 1224, but does not include detail of baptismal practice. The version of Árni’s ‘Boðskapur’ preserved in AM 456 12° fols 130-6 discusses infant baptism at some length: ... þa skal [prestrinn] signa þat [barn] ok gefa sallt vigt ok lesa gudspiall yfir ok giora krossa yfir med hraka sinum fyri eyrum ok nosum ok leida i kirkiu. smyria sidan ä brioste ok millum herde med oleo sancto ok sidan med krisma j hǫfdi. færa j skirnar klædi ok fa kerti loganda j hond ... ‘Then the priest must sign the child and give it consecrated salt and read the gospel over it and make the sign of the cross over its ears and nose with his saliva and lead it into the church; then [the priest must] annoint [the child’s] breast and between its shoulders with holy oil and then annoint its head with chrism, put it into baptismal clothes and set a burning candle in its hand...’ (DI II, 26). An alternative version of Árni’s instructions, preserved in AM 456 12° fols 93-4, gives further details of the headband used to seal the chrism (DI II, 51): dregla suo langa at uel megi knyta um hofudit. ok suo breida at hyli krisma krossinu. ... Þriar nætur skulu dreglar um hofudit barnanna ok skulu mædurnar at geyma ok lata eigi at falla ... sidan skulu þuozt hǫfud barnanna j lut ok j uormu uatni ok kasta j elld dreglinum ‘the band [should be] so long that it can be wound around the head, and so broad as to hide the chrism cross ... the children must wear the bands round their heads for three nights and their mothers must look after them and not allow them to fall ... then they must wash the heads of the children in lye and warm water and throw the bands into the fire’. Tveitane (1966, 131 n. 3) argued that the use of the word krisma ‘chrism’ indicates a direct borrowing from the Pseudo-Wulfstan homily Sermo angelorum nomina (Pseudo-Wulfstan Homily XLV, in Napier 1883, 226-32). However, there are considerable differences between the two accounts of the baptism. In the OE text, and its Lat. source Epistola Salvatoris Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Priebsch 1899, 130-4), Christ is anointed with both oil and chrism, while Leið mentions only chrism. Although the Lat. text includes no account of Christ’s salutation as the Son of God, the OE indicates that, after John had baptised and anointed him, an angel came from heaven and announced: Þis is min leofa sunu, on þæm ic me wel gelicode, geherað him wel ‘This is my dear son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen carefully to him’ (Napier 1883, 229). Leið credits John only with the baptism itself and asserts that the Holy Spirit performed the anointing (24/5-8).

Close

í ‘in’

(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into

notes

[6-7] lagði krismu í lesni ‘laid chrism in the headband’: Anointing with chrism (a mixture of consecrated oil and balsam) was a standard part of medieval baptismal practice. That Iceland was no exception to the norm is confirmed by Bishop Árni Þorláksson’s ‘Boðskapur’ (DI II, 23-37), a series of instructions to clergy in his Skálholt diocese, which are dated September 1269, shortly after Árni’s accession to the see. They claim to confirm and update a similar document of Bishop Magnús Gizurarson (bishop of Skálholt 1216-29, 1231-7; DI I, 423-63) which is dated 1224, but does not include detail of baptismal practice. The version of Árni’s ‘Boðskapur’ preserved in AM 456 12° fols 130-6 discusses infant baptism at some length: ... þa skal [prestrinn] signa þat [barn] ok gefa sallt vigt ok lesa gudspiall yfir ok giora krossa yfir med hraka sinum fyri eyrum ok nosum ok leida i kirkiu. smyria sidan ä brioste ok millum herde med oleo sancto ok sidan med krisma j hǫfdi. færa j skirnar klædi ok fa kerti loganda j hond ... ‘Then the priest must sign the child and give it consecrated salt and read the gospel over it and make the sign of the cross over its ears and nose with his saliva and lead it into the church; then [the priest must] annoint [the child’s] breast and between its shoulders with holy oil and then annoint its head with chrism, put it into baptismal clothes and set a burning candle in its hand...’ (DI II, 26). An alternative version of Árni’s instructions, preserved in AM 456 12° fols 93-4, gives further details of the headband used to seal the chrism (DI II, 51): dregla suo langa at uel megi knyta um hofudit. ok suo breida at hyli krisma krossinu. ... Þriar nætur skulu dreglar um hofudit barnanna ok skulu mædurnar at geyma ok lata eigi at falla ... sidan skulu þuozt hǫfud barnanna j lut ok j uormu uatni ok kasta j elld dreglinum ‘the band [should be] so long that it can be wound around the head, and so broad as to hide the chrism cross ... the children must wear the bands round their heads for three nights and their mothers must look after them and not allow them to fall ... then they must wash the heads of the children in lye and warm water and throw the bands into the fire’. Tveitane (1966, 131 n. 3) argued that the use of the word krisma ‘chrism’ indicates a direct borrowing from the Pseudo-Wulfstan homily Sermo angelorum nomina (Pseudo-Wulfstan Homily XLV, in Napier 1883, 226-32). However, there are considerable differences between the two accounts of the baptism. In the OE text, and its Lat. source Epistola Salvatoris Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Priebsch 1899, 130-4), Christ is anointed with both oil and chrism, while Leið mentions only chrism. Although the Lat. text includes no account of Christ’s salutation as the Son of God, the OE indicates that, after John had baptised and anointed him, an angel came from heaven and announced: Þis is min leofa sunu, on þæm ic me wel gelicode, geherað him wel ‘This is my dear son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen carefully to him’ (Napier 1883, 229). Leið credits John only with the baptism itself and asserts that the Holy Spirit performed the anointing (24/5-8).

Close

lesni ‘the headband’

(not checked:)
lesni (noun n.): [headband]

notes

[6-7] lagði krismu í lesni ‘laid chrism in the headband’: Anointing with chrism (a mixture of consecrated oil and balsam) was a standard part of medieval baptismal practice. That Iceland was no exception to the norm is confirmed by Bishop Árni Þorláksson’s ‘Boðskapur’ (DI II, 23-37), a series of instructions to clergy in his Skálholt diocese, which are dated September 1269, shortly after Árni’s accession to the see. They claim to confirm and update a similar document of Bishop Magnús Gizurarson (bishop of Skálholt 1216-29, 1231-7; DI I, 423-63) which is dated 1224, but does not include detail of baptismal practice. The version of Árni’s ‘Boðskapur’ preserved in AM 456 12° fols 130-6 discusses infant baptism at some length: ... þa skal [prestrinn] signa þat [barn] ok gefa sallt vigt ok lesa gudspiall yfir ok giora krossa yfir med hraka sinum fyri eyrum ok nosum ok leida i kirkiu. smyria sidan ä brioste ok millum herde med oleo sancto ok sidan med krisma j hǫfdi. færa j skirnar klædi ok fa kerti loganda j hond ... ‘Then the priest must sign the child and give it consecrated salt and read the gospel over it and make the sign of the cross over its ears and nose with his saliva and lead it into the church; then [the priest must] annoint [the child’s] breast and between its shoulders with holy oil and then annoint its head with chrism, put it into baptismal clothes and set a burning candle in its hand...’ (DI II, 26). An alternative version of Árni’s instructions, preserved in AM 456 12° fols 93-4, gives further details of the headband used to seal the chrism (DI II, 51): dregla suo langa at uel megi knyta um hofudit. ok suo breida at hyli krisma krossinu. ... Þriar nætur skulu dreglar um hofudit barnanna ok skulu mædurnar at geyma ok lata eigi at falla ... sidan skulu þuozt hǫfud barnanna j lut ok j uormu uatni ok kasta j elld dreglinum ‘the band [should be] so long that it can be wound around the head, and so broad as to hide the chrism cross ... the children must wear the bands round their heads for three nights and their mothers must look after them and not allow them to fall ... then they must wash the heads of the children in lye and warm water and throw the bands into the fire’. Tveitane (1966, 131 n. 3) argued that the use of the word krisma ‘chrism’ indicates a direct borrowing from the Pseudo-Wulfstan homily Sermo angelorum nomina (Pseudo-Wulfstan Homily XLV, in Napier 1883, 226-32). However, there are considerable differences between the two accounts of the baptism. In the OE text, and its Lat. source Epistola Salvatoris Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Priebsch 1899, 130-4), Christ is anointed with both oil and chrism, while Leið mentions only chrism. Although the Lat. text includes no account of Christ’s salutation as the Son of God, the OE indicates that, after John had baptised and anointed him, an angel came from heaven and announced: Þis is min leofa sunu, on þæm ic me wel gelicode, geherað him wel ‘This is my dear son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen carefully to him’ (Napier 1883, 229). Leið credits John only with the baptism itself and asserts that the Holy Spirit performed the anointing (24/5-8).

Close

lands ‘land’

(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land

kennings

dróttni dáðstéttar dags lands.
‘of the Lord of the deed-host of day’s land.’
   = God

day’s land. → SKY/HEAVEN
the deed-host of the SKY/HEAVEN → ANGELS
the Lord of ANGELS → God
Close

lands ‘land’

(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land

kennings

dróttni dáðstéttar dags lands.
‘of the Lord of the deed-host of day’s land.’
   = God

day’s land. → SKY/HEAVEN
the deed-host of the SKY/HEAVEN → ANGELS
the Lord of ANGELS → God
Close

lands ‘land’

(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land

kennings

dróttni dáðstéttar dags lands.
‘of the Lord of the deed-host of day’s land.’
   = God

day’s land. → SKY/HEAVEN
the deed-host of the SKY/HEAVEN → ANGELS
the Lord of ANGELS → God
Close

inn ‘The’

(not checked:)
2. inn (art.): the

Close

helgi ‘Holy’

(not checked:)
helgi (noun f.; °-): holy

Close

andi ‘Spirit’

(not checked:)
andi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): spirit, soul

Close

Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

[5-8]: It is interesting to compare this helmingr with a lv. on Christ’s baptism preserved in the text of Skm in AM 242 fol and attributed there to Skáld-Þórir (Skáldþ LvIII). This poet is otherwise unknown (he is tentatively assigned by Skj B to the C12th). The noun krisma ‘chrism’ appears only in these two places in the skaldic corpus.

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.