Anon Líkn 47^VII

Réðum krapt í kvæði
kross þíns fyr þjóð inna,
árs, þó at, eflir, værak
allítt til þess fallinn.
Sízt em ek samr of baztan
sýnt — öngrumz því löngum —
fyr lundfasta löstu,
líknfæðir, þik ræða.

{Eflir árs}, réðum inna fyr þjóð krapt kross þíns í kvæði, þó at værak allítt fallinn til þess. Sýnt em ek sízt samr, {líknfæðir}, ræða of þik baztan fyr lundfasta löstu; því öngrumz löngum.

{Strengthener of year’s abundance} [= God (= Christ)], we [I] undertook to relate to the people the power of your Cross in a poem, even though I was poorly equipped to do so. Clearly I am least suited, {begetter of grace} [= God (= Christ)], to speak of you, the best, on account of mind-fixed sins; for that reason we are [I am] continuously troubled.

Mss: B(12r), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [1] Réðum: ‘re᷎dum’ with very light tittle, poss. erased B, ink blotted obscuring accent or hook on ‘e’ 399a‑bˣ;    í kvæði: ‘[...]’ B, ‘í kṿạẹð̣ị’ 399a‑bˣ    [5] em: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘e[...]’ B;    samr: ‘s[...]’ B, ‘s[...]n⸜m⸝r’ 399a‑bˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 158-9, Skj BII, 172-3, Skald II, 91; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 49, Rydberg 1907, 19, 52, Tate 1974, 92.

Notes: [1] réðum ‘we [I] undertook’: Ms. ‘re᷎dum’ (ræðum ‘we speak’); all eds emend to (or read as, so Sveinbjörn Egilsson) réðum. The frequency of ráða + inf. ‘to undertake to’ (see LP: ráða 12), the lightness of the tittle (indicating possible attempted erasure), and the fact that (if restoration of kvæði is correct) the l. would be aðalhent rather than skothent, all argue against ræðum. — [2] þíns: inna: The long/short rhyme í : i also occurs at 11/6 (minn : þína) and 52/2 (minn : skína). — [3] eflir árs ‘strengthener of year’s abundance [= God (= Christ)]’: Eflir (< efla < afl ‘strength’) is used of God or Christ elsewhere only in Leið 39/5 (also as base-word). — [5] em ek samr ‘I am suited’: Restoration is based upon 399a-bˣ, including note; all subsequent eds follow Sveinbjörn Egilsson here. The sense ‘suited to, fitting’ for samr occurs only in poetry (LP: samr 2). — [7] lundfasta ‘mind-fixed, firmly fixed temperament’: The cpd does not occur elsewhere.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. 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.
4. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. Tate, George S. 1974. ‘Líknarbraut: A Skaldic Drápa on the Cross’. Ph.D. thesis. Cornell University. DAI 35:6112A.
6. 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.
7. Internal references
8. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 39’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 173-4.