Þdís Saint 1^III

Hafreiðar vas hlœðir
hlunns í skírnar brunni,
Hvíta-Krists sás hæsta
hoddsviptir fekk giptu.

{Hlœðir {hafreiðar hlunns}} vas í brunni skírnar, {hoddsviptir}, sás fekk hæsta giptu Hvíta-Krists.

{The loader {of the sea-chariot of the slipway roller}} [SHIP > SEAFARER] was in the pool of baptism, {the hoard-flinger} [GENEROUS MAN], who received the highest grace of White-Christ.

Mss: R(35v), Tˣ(36v), W(80), U(34r), A(12r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] ‑reiðar: ‑ræðar U;    hlœðir: ‘hlæði’ A    [3] Hvíta‑: húna A;    ‑Krists: kristr Tˣ, U    [4] hodd‑: so all others, ‘hod’ R

Editions: Skj AI, 144, Skj BI, 135, Skald I, 74, NN §428; SnE 1848-87, I, 446-7, II, 333, III, 89, 444, SnE 1931, 158, SnE 1998, I, 76.

Notes: [1] hafreiðar ‘of the sea-chariot’: The base-word of a ship-kenning, with hlunns ‘of the slipway roller’ as determinant. Because haf- ‘sea’ makes the kenning overdetermined (‘chariot of the slipway roller’ would be sufficient), eds have sought to interpret haf- as derived from the verb hefja ‘raise’ in the sense ‘lifting, moving up and down’ (so LP: 1. hafreið and SnE 1998, II, 299). However, hafreið occurs once elsewhere (ÞTref Hrafn 5/6^V) clearly in the sense ‘sea-chariot’ (probably a kenning for ‘ship’), so the more obvious sense has been retained here. Kock (NN §428) emended hafreiðar to hôreiðar ‘of the high chariot’, but there is no ms. support for this emendation. — [2] skírnar ‘of baptism’: Assuming a date of composition for Þdís Saint as c. 1000 or a little afterwards, this is the earliest poetic use of this Christian term (cf. Anon Leið 12/2^VII, Anon Lil 5/1^VII) and probably among the earliest recorded in Old Norse (see ONP : skírn). — [3] Hvíta-Krists ‘of White-Christ’: The term is used, particularly around the conversion period, to refer to Jesus Christ, probably on account of the white garments worn by converts about to be baptised (cf. LP: Hvíta-Kristr). In poetry, it is only used here and in Sigv Lv 23/2^I.

References

1. Bibliography
2. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 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. ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.
7. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Internal references
10. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 12’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 151-2.
11. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Þorbjǫrn dísarskáld, Poem about a Saint’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 472. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1428> (accessed 3 May 2024)
12. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 5’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 567.
13. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 23’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 728.
14. Judy Quinn (ed.) 2022, ‘Eyrbyggja saga 35 (Þormóðr Trefilsson, Hrafnsmál 5)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 470.