Anon Líkn 45^VII

‘Mín snúz þjóð ok þjóna
— þat er ráðuligt — dáðum
glæpum vön frá greypu
grandi mér til handa.
Því býð ek faðm, at feðmik
fúss ok glaðr með saðri
ást, hvern er iðraz lasta,
unninna, miskunnar.’

‘Þjóð mín, vön glæpum, snúz frá greypu grandi mér til handa ok þjóna dáðum; þat er ráðuligt. Því býð ek faðm miskunnar, at fúss ok glaðr feðmik með saðri ást, hvern er iðraz unninna lasta.’

‘My people, accustomed to sins, turn away from fierce injury to me and serve with deeds; that is advisable. Therefore I offer the embrace of mercy, because, willing and glad, I embrace with true love each one who repents of sins committed.’

Mss: B(12r), 399a-bˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 158, Skj BII, 172, Skald II, 90-1; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 49, Rydberg 1907, 19, 52, Tate 1974, 90.

Notes: [1] Þjóð mín ‘my people’: On the relation to the recurrent Popule meus ‘O my people’ in the Reproaches of the Good Friday liturgy, see Notes to st. 43. — [3-4] vön glæpum ... frá greypu grandi ‘accustomed to sin ... from fierce injury’: Possibly influenced Árni Gd 18/5^IV and Mdr 8/7-8, both C14th. — [5, 8] Því býð ek faðm ... miskunnar ‘Therefore I offer the embrace of mercy’: See the Icel. homily on the Cross: þuiat haɴ býþr faþm miscvɴar siɴar. ꜵʟ þeim er haɴ elsca ‘for he offers the embrace of mercy to all those who love him’ (HómÍsl 1993, 17v; HómÍsl 1872, 38; cf. HómNo, 104). — [5] feðmik ‘I embrace’: Feðma ‘to embrace’ (from faðmr ‘embrace’) is a rare variant of faðma. The proximity of faðm and feðmik is an instance of polyptoton. — [7-8] iðraz lasta unninna ‘repents of sins committed’: Cf. Has 53/7 glæpa iðrumk, the only other occurrence of iðrask + sins in skaldic poetry.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
4. Tate, George S. 1974. ‘Líknarbraut: A Skaldic Drápa on the Cross’. Ph.D. thesis. Cornell University. DAI 35:6112A.
5. HómÍsl 1872 = Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1872. Homiliu-bók: Isländska homilier efter en handskrift från tolfte århundredet. Lund: Gleerup.
6. HómÍsl 1993 = de Leeuw van Weenen, Andrea, ed. 1993. The Icelandic Homily Book: Perg. 15 4° in the Royal Library, Stockholm. Íslensk handrit/Icelandic Manuscripts Series in quarto 3. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi.
7. HómNo = Indrebø, Gustav. 1931. Gamal norsk homiliebok, Cod. AM 619, 4°. Det norske historiske Kjeldeskrift Fond, Skrifter 54. Oslo: Dybwad. Rpt. 1966. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
8. Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1844. Fjøgur gømul kvæði. Boðsrit til að hlusta á þá opinberu yfirheyrslu í Bessastaða Skóla þann 22-29 mai 1844. Viðeyar Klaustri: prentuð af Helga Helgasyni, á kostnað Bessastaða Skóla. Bessastaðir: Helgi Helgason.
9. Internal references
10. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Máríudrápa 8’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 485.
11. Not published: do not cite (Árni Gd 18^IV)
12. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 53’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 120-1.