Anon Líkn 2VII
George S. Tate (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Líknarbraut 2’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 230-2.
Víst ‘Surely’
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1. víss (adj.): wise, certain(ly)
má ‘must’
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mega (verb): may, might
hræddr ‘fearful’
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1. hræddr (adj.): afraid
kennings
algöfugr mærðteitr jöfurr ins hæsta heiðs‘the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven ’
= God
the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven → God
hæsta ‘highest’
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hœgri (adj. comp.): higher, highest
kennings
algöfugr mærðteitr jöfurr ins hæsta heiðs‘the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven ’
= God
the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven → God
heiðs ‘clear-heaven’
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2. heið (noun n.; °; -): clear sky
[2] heiðs algöfugr: heiðr algöfugs B, 399a‑bˣ
kennings
algöfugr mærðteitr jöfurr ins hæsta heiðs‘the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven ’
= God
the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven → God
notes
[2] heiðs algöfugr ‘of clear-heaven ... completely noble’: Despite Kock’s effort (NN §1385) to maintain the ms. reading (heiðr algöfugs), there seems to be no way around the need to emend l. 2. Kock’s construction depends upon 1) an otherwise unattested sense of heiðr ‘glory’ as bistånd ‘assistance’, 2) inverting the acc. and gen. objects in the idiom at beiða e-n e-s ‘to ask someone for something’, and 3) mixing weak and strong adjectives following the def. art. (ins hæsta, göfugs). Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 35 n. (supported by Konráð Gíslason 1877, 23 n.) proposed heiðtjalls (i.e. -tjalds ‘-tent’) for B’s ‘heiðr al’; so Rydberg 1907, 47 and Skj B. While this, with the end of l. 1, would be analogous to ins hæsta hríðtjalds in Has 28/1-2, a C12th drápa from which Líkn draws various details, it is unlikely that the poet would use exactly the same sky-kenning twice (cf. heiðtjalds 25/4). A ‘king of heaven’-kenning can be achieved less radically by emending heiðr to heiðs ‘of the (highest) clear-heaven’. (An alternative would be heiðrs ‘of (the highest) glory’; i.e. rex summae gloriae.) Emendation of algöfugs ‘completely noble’ to nom. algöfugr (Skj B göfugr), while less essential, seems justified to avoid apposition of weak and strong adjs following ins ‘the’, but also by the marginal appropriateness of algöfugs as a modifier of ‘sky’.
algöfugr ‘the completely noble’
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algǫfugr (adj.): [completely noble]
[2] heiðs algöfugr: heiðr algöfugs B, 399a‑bˣ
kennings
algöfugr mærðteitr jöfurr ins hæsta heiðs‘the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven ’
= God
the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven → God
notes
[2] heiðs algöfugr ‘of clear-heaven ... completely noble’: Despite Kock’s effort (NN §1385) to maintain the ms. reading (heiðr algöfugs), there seems to be no way around the need to emend l. 2. Kock’s construction depends upon 1) an otherwise unattested sense of heiðr ‘glory’ as bistånd ‘assistance’, 2) inverting the acc. and gen. objects in the idiom at beiða e-n e-s ‘to ask someone for something’, and 3) mixing weak and strong adjectives following the def. art. (ins hæsta, göfugs). Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 35 n. (supported by Konráð Gíslason 1877, 23 n.) proposed heiðtjalls (i.e. -tjalds ‘-tent’) for B’s ‘heiðr al’; so Rydberg 1907, 47 and Skj B. While this, with the end of l. 1, would be analogous to ins hæsta hríðtjalds in Has 28/1-2, a C12th drápa from which Líkn draws various details, it is unlikely that the poet would use exactly the same sky-kenning twice (cf. heiðtjalds 25/4). A ‘king of heaven’-kenning can be achieved less radically by emending heiðr to heiðs ‘of the (highest) clear-heaven’. (An alternative would be heiðrs ‘of (the highest) glory’; i.e. rex summae gloriae.) Emendation of algöfugs ‘completely noble’ to nom. algöfugr (Skj B göfugr), while less essential, seems justified to avoid apposition of weak and strong adjs following ins ‘the’, but also by the marginal appropriateness of algöfugs as a modifier of ‘sky’.
beiða ‘entreat’
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beiða (verb; °-dd-): ask, request
mér ‘me’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
at ‘that’
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4. at (conj.): that
munns ‘mouth’
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munnr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): mouth < munnshǫfn (noun f.)
kennings
dýra munnshöfn,‘precious mouth-content, ’
= SPEECH
precious mouth-content, → SPEECH
höfn ‘content’
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1. hǫfn (noun f.; °hafnar; hafnir(/hafnar(Streng 234³²)): haven, harbour < munnshǫfn (noun f.)
kennings
dýra munnshöfn,‘precious mouth-content, ’
= SPEECH
precious mouth-content, → SPEECH
dýra ‘precious’
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dýrr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -str/-astr): precious
kennings
dýra munnshöfn,‘precious mouth-content, ’
= SPEECH
precious mouth-content, → SPEECH
mærð ‘fame’
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mærð (noun f.): praise < mærðteitr (adj.)
[4] mærðteitr: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘me᷎rd [...]eítr’ B
kennings
algöfugr mærðteitr jöfurr ins hæsta heiðs‘the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven ’
= God
the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven → God
teitr ‘glad’
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teitr (adj.): cheerful, glad < mærðteitr (adj.)
[4] mærðteitr: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘me᷎rd [...]eítr’ B
kennings
algöfugr mærðteitr jöfurr ins hæsta heiðs‘the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven ’
= God
the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven → God
jöfurr ‘prince’
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jǫfurr (noun m.): ruler, prince
kennings
algöfugr mærðteitr jöfurr ins hæsta heiðs‘the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven ’
= God
the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven → God
veiti ‘grant’
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2. veita (verb): grant, give
ár ‘oar’
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1. ár (noun f.; °-ar, dat. u/-; -ar/-ir(LandslBorg 151b²¹)): oar
kennings
ár orða‘oar of words ’
= TONGUE
oar of words → TONGUE
notes
[5, 7] ár orða ‘oar of words [TONGUE]’: Restoration of ‘orð’ based upon 399a-bˣ; <rð> confirmed by skothending. The tongue-kenning mixes oddly with the plain noun tungu ‘tongue’ (l. 7) in the same helmingr. Since ár can mean ‘abundance’ (from ‘year’s yield’, Lat. annona) as well as ‘oar’, orða ár might also play off orðgnótt ‘word-abundance’ (1/4) in the previous st., in which case the poet would be contrasting his own surfeit of words – a sin of the tongue – with the true abundance of inspired words for which he has just prayed.
at ‘’
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4. at (conj.): that
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
má ‘can’
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mega (verb): may, might
stórum ‘great’
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stórr (adj.): large, great
notes
[5] stórum ‘great’: Skj B construes adverbially (‘very’); Rydberg 1907, 47 and NN §2584, as here, with afgerðum ‘offences’.
ungr ‘young’
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ungr (adj.): young
notes
[6] ungr ... tungu ‘young ... tongue’: Cf. Hfr Lv 28/2V ungr vask harðr í tungu ‘young, I was hard of tongue’.
hóg ‘of an easily’
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hógr (adj.): comfortable < hógsettr (adj./verb p.p.)
settrar ‘employed’
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setja (verb): place, set, establish < hógsettr (adj./verb p.p.)
tungu ‘tongue’
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tunga (noun f.; °-u; -ur): tongue, language
notes
[6] ungr ... tungu ‘young ... tongue’: Cf. Hfr Lv 28/2V ungr vask harðr í tungu ‘young, I was hard of tongue’.
frá ‘from’
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frá (prep.): from
af ‘’
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af- ((prefix)) < afgerð (noun f.): crime, sin
gerðum ‘offences’
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1. gerð (noun f.): deed < afgerð (noun f.): crime, sin
kennings
ár orða‘oar of words ’
= TONGUE
oar of words → TONGUE
notes
[5, 7] ár orða ‘oar of words [TONGUE]’: Restoration of ‘orð’ based upon 399a-bˣ; <rð> confirmed by skothending. The tongue-kenning mixes oddly with the plain noun tungu ‘tongue’ (l. 7) in the same helmingr. Since ár can mean ‘abundance’ (from ‘year’s yield’, Lat. annona) as well as ‘oar’, orða ár might also play off orðgnótt ‘word-abundance’ (1/4) in the previous st., in which case the poet would be contrasting his own surfeit of words – a sin of the tongue – with the true abundance of inspired words for which he has just prayed.
of ‘all too’
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of- ((prefix)): too much < ofsjaldan (adv.)
sjaldan ‘seldom’
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sjaldan (adv.): seldom < ofsjaldan (adv.)
vel ‘well’
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vel (adv.): well, very
halda ‘keep’
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halda (verb): hold, keep
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The st.’s concern with sins of the tongue may be inspired by Jas. I.26 and III.5-10 as well as, in a monastic context, by ch. 6 of the Benedictine Rule and the Ambrosian hymn for prime, Iam lucis orto sidere 2/1: linguam refrenans ‘bridling the tongue’ (AH 51, 40 and Ordo Nidr., 183-4, 242, 260, 264). With reference to the nautical imagery (below, and sts 33-4), see also the OIcel. ship allegory, where the tongue is likened to a rudder (rather than an oar): Styret iarteiner tungu mannz, fyr þvi at stiórnen styrer skipeno sem tunga mannz styrer ꜵllum mannenom til goþra hluta eþa illra ... Sva fyrerferr oc sá maþr ser, er illa styrer tungu sinne ... En ef han gæter væl tungu sinnar, þa styrer hann sér til himinrikis ‘The rudder signifies the tongue of man, because the rudder steers the ship just as the tongue of man steers all men (sic ‘the whole man’) to good or evil things ... Thus the man who poorly governs his tongue also perishes ... But if he governs his tongue well he then steers himself to heaven’ (Larsson 1891, 246, glossed by Marchand 1976a, 244-7).
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