Anon Mdr 12^VII

Hlaut Máría mætan
minn græðara að fæða;
hátt ferr dýrð, sú er dróttinn
dáðnenninn giefr henni.
Lofar, þá er öllum er efri
ein riett í veg hreinum,
— Kristr skipar hjá sier hæsta
heims drottning — lið* beima.

Máría hlaut að fæða mætan græðara minn; hátt ferr dýrð, sú er dáðnenninn dróttinn giefr henni. Lið* beima lofar, þá er ein er riett efri öllum í hreinum veg; Kristr skipar {hæsta drottning heims} hjá sier.

Mary was chosen to give birth to my worthy Saviour; exalted is the glory which the deed-powerful Lord gives her. The company of men praises the one who alone, rightly, is higher than all in pure honour. Christ establishes {the highest queen of the world} [= Mary] beside himself.

Mss: B(13v), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [2] græðara: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘gredar[...]’ B;    fæða: ‘f[...]a’ B, 399a‑bˣ    [4] dáðnenninn: ‘[...]nnenn’ B, ‘[...]nennenn’ 399a‑bˣ    [5-8] abbrev. as ‘Lofar þa er o᷎llum er efri.’ B

Editions: Skj AII, 466, Skj BII, 499, Skald II, 272; Rydberg 1907, 34, 55, Attwood 1996a, 104-5, 305.

Notes: [1] hlaut Máría mætan: Cf. Has 52/1: Hlaut Máría mætum. — [2] fæða ‘to give birth to, feed, bring up’: Only the first and last letters are now legible in B. Jón Sigurðsson (n. to 444ˣ transcript) suggests reconstruction to fæða, which is confirmed by the rhyme and adopted by all subsequent eds. — [4] dáðnenninn ‘deed-powerful’: The first part of this word is entirely lost in B. The alliteration requires initial <d>. Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s reconstruction, made in a n. to Jón Sigurðsson’s 444ˣ transcript, to dýrnenninn, m. nom. sg. of the adj. dýrnenninn ‘most enterprising’ qualifying dróttinn ‘lord’, is adopted by Rydberg. The cpd occurs also in Anon (MH) 1/4^II. Finnur Jónsson’s emendation to dáðnenninn ‘deed-powerful’, also agreeing with dróttinn, though also a hap. leg., is on the same model (see LP: dáðnenninn). Cf., e.g., dáðvíss (adj.) ‘deed-wise’, applied to Mary in 13/6. Kock follows Finnur. — [5-8]: First repetition of stef 1 (cf. st. 3).

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. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
5. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Internal references
7. Kari Ellen Gade and Diana Whaley (eds) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísa from Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 813-14.
8. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 52’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 119-20.