Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Anon Mdr 16VII

Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Máríudrápa 16’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 491-2.

Anonymous PoemsMáríudrápa
151617

Viðir ‘trees’

(not checked:)
1. viðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -u/-i): wood, tree

[1] Viðir: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘Vid[...]’ B

kennings

viðir flæðar Fenris
‘trees of the river of Fenrir ’
   = WARRIORS

the river of Fenrir → BLOOD
trees of the BLOOD → WARRIORS

notes

[1] viðir flæðar Fenris ‘trees of the river of Fenrir [BLOOD > WARRIORS]’: The interpretation of flæð Fenris ‘river of Fenrir’ as ‘blood’ is supported by the blood-kenning Fenris brunnr ‘Fenrir’s spring’ in two mss of Bjhit Lv 19/3-4V (see Skj AI, 304). Man-kennings on the ‘tree of blood’ model are not attested elsewhere in the corpus. Kock (NN §1641) follows Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) in interpolating bliks gen. sg. ‘of the gleam’ and deleting ms. ‘og’, creating the man-kenning, viðir bliks flæðar Fenris ‘trees of the gleam of the river of Fenrir [BLOOD > SWORD > WARRIORS]’. This, however, has no ms. justification.

Close

Fenris ‘of Fenrir’

(not checked:)
Fenrir (noun m.): Fenrir

kennings

viðir flæðar Fenris
‘trees of the river of Fenrir ’
   = WARRIORS

the river of Fenrir → BLOOD
trees of the BLOOD → WARRIORS

notes

[1] viðir flæðar Fenris ‘trees of the river of Fenrir [BLOOD > WARRIORS]’: The interpretation of flæð Fenris ‘river of Fenrir’ as ‘blood’ is supported by the blood-kenning Fenris brunnr ‘Fenrir’s spring’ in two mss of Bjhit Lv 19/3-4V (see Skj AI, 304). Man-kennings on the ‘tree of blood’ model are not attested elsewhere in the corpus. Kock (NN §1641) follows Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) in interpolating bliks gen. sg. ‘of the gleam’ and deleting ms. ‘og’, creating the man-kenning, viðir bliks flæðar Fenris ‘trees of the gleam of the river of Fenrir [BLOOD > SWORD > WARRIORS]’. This, however, has no ms. justification.

Close

Fenris ‘of Fenrir’

(not checked:)
Fenrir (noun m.): Fenrir

kennings

viðir flæðar Fenris
‘trees of the river of Fenrir ’
   = WARRIORS

the river of Fenrir → BLOOD
trees of the BLOOD → WARRIORS

notes

[1] viðir flæðar Fenris ‘trees of the river of Fenrir [BLOOD > WARRIORS]’: The interpretation of flæð Fenris ‘river of Fenrir’ as ‘blood’ is supported by the blood-kenning Fenris brunnr ‘Fenrir’s spring’ in two mss of Bjhit Lv 19/3-4V (see Skj AI, 304). Man-kennings on the ‘tree of blood’ model are not attested elsewhere in the corpus. Kock (NN §1641) follows Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) in interpolating bliks gen. sg. ‘of the gleam’ and deleting ms. ‘og’, creating the man-kenning, viðir bliks flæðar Fenris ‘trees of the gleam of the river of Fenrir [BLOOD > SWORD > WARRIORS]’. This, however, has no ms. justification.

Close

og ‘And’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

Close

flæðar ‘of the river’

(not checked:)
flœð (noun f.): flood, sea

kennings

viðir flæðar Fenris
‘trees of the river of Fenrir ’
   = WARRIORS

the river of Fenrir → BLOOD
trees of the BLOOD → WARRIORS

notes

[1] viðir flæðar Fenris ‘trees of the river of Fenrir [BLOOD > WARRIORS]’: The interpretation of flæð Fenris ‘river of Fenrir’ as ‘blood’ is supported by the blood-kenning Fenris brunnr ‘Fenrir’s spring’ in two mss of Bjhit Lv 19/3-4V (see Skj AI, 304). Man-kennings on the ‘tree of blood’ model are not attested elsewhere in the corpus. Kock (NN §1641) follows Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) in interpolating bliks gen. sg. ‘of the gleam’ and deleting ms. ‘og’, creating the man-kenning, viðir bliks flæðar Fenris ‘trees of the gleam of the river of Fenrir [BLOOD > SWORD > WARRIORS]’. This, however, has no ms. justification.

Close

flæðar ‘of the river’

(not checked:)
flœð (noun f.): flood, sea

kennings

viðir flæðar Fenris
‘trees of the river of Fenrir ’
   = WARRIORS

the river of Fenrir → BLOOD
trees of the BLOOD → WARRIORS

notes

[1] viðir flæðar Fenris ‘trees of the river of Fenrir [BLOOD > WARRIORS]’: The interpretation of flæð Fenris ‘river of Fenrir’ as ‘blood’ is supported by the blood-kenning Fenris brunnr ‘Fenrir’s spring’ in two mss of Bjhit Lv 19/3-4V (see Skj AI, 304). Man-kennings on the ‘tree of blood’ model are not attested elsewhere in the corpus. Kock (NN §1641) follows Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) in interpolating bliks gen. sg. ‘of the gleam’ and deleting ms. ‘og’, creating the man-kenning, viðir bliks flæðar Fenris ‘trees of the gleam of the river of Fenrir [BLOOD > SWORD > WARRIORS]’. This, however, has no ms. justification.

Close

merkja ‘signs’

(not checked:)
merkja (verb): mark, signify

Close

í ‘’

(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into

Close

hyggju ‘’

(not checked:)
1. hyggja (noun f.; °-u; -ur): thought, mind

[3] hyggju: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘h[...]giu’ B

Close

harri ‘’

(not checked:)
1. harri (noun m.; °-a): lord

Close

faðmandi ‘’

(not checked:)
faðma (verb; °-að-): embrace

Close

þvíað ‘because’

(not checked:)
þvít (conj.): because, since

Close

fylling ‘fulfilment’

(not checked:)
fylling (noun f.): [fulfilment]

Close

ins ‘of’

(not checked:)
2. inn (art.): the

Close

fulla ‘the absolute’

(not checked:)
2. fullr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): full, complete

[5] fulla: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘f[...]lla’ B

Close

friðar ‘peace’

(not checked:)
friðr (noun m.): peace

Close

af ‘of’

(not checked:)
af (prep.): from

[6] af: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]f’ B

Close

þínum ‘your’

(not checked:)
þinn (pron.; °f. þín, n. þitt): your

Close

iðrum ‘womb’

(not checked:)
3. iðr (noun n.; °; -): womb, innards

Close

sýndir ‘you revealed’

(not checked:)
sýna (verb): show, seem

Close

geisla ‘of sun-beams’

(not checked:)
geisli (noun m.): beam of light

kennings

grundar geisla,
‘of the land of sun-beams, ’
   = SKY/HEAVEN

the land of sun-beams, → SKY/HEAVEN

notes

[7] geisla ‘of sun-beams’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), followed by Kock (Skald), emends to geisli nom. taking geisli grundar ‘sunbeam of the earth’ as an epithet for Mary. He translates du, jordens stråle, viste den fuldkomne freds fylde ‘you, earth’s sunbeam, showed the fulfilment of absolute peace’. Finnur’s emendation is unnecessary, since, as Schottmann points out (1973, 43 n. 29), grund geisla ‘land of sunbeams’ makes for a perfectly acceptable heaven-kenning, which also occurs in Líkn 30/7-8 and EGils Guðv 10/3IV.

Close

grundar ‘of the land’

(not checked:)
grund (noun f.): earth, land

kennings

grundar geisla,
‘of the land of sun-beams, ’
   = SKY/HEAVEN

the land of sun-beams, → SKY/HEAVEN
Close

guð ‘God’

(not checked:)
1. guð (noun m.; °***guðrs, guðis, gus): (Christian) God

[8] guð og: ‘[...]d [...]’ B, ‘[...] ok’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]d ok’ BRydberg, BFJ

Close

og ‘and’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

[8] guð og: ‘[...]d [...]’ B, ‘[...] ok’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]d ok’ BRydberg, BFJ

Close

mann ‘man’

(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person

Close

Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

[1-4]: The interpretation of these ll, as they stand in B, is problematic, and eds have resorted to various emendations to make sense of them. In this edn, ll. 3-4 have been regarded as corrupt to the point of being unemendable and incomprehensible. It is possible, however, that ll. 1-4 refer to the Annunciation. — [2-4]: The first word of l. 2, abbreviated in B, has been read as fyrri adj. ‘former, earlier’ (so Skj B, Skald and here) or as the prep. fyrir (so Rydberg), construed with mier (l. 3). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) offers the following paraphrase of ll. 1-2: man spörger om tidligere tegn ‘people enquire about earlier signs’ but does not attempt an interpretation of ll. 3-4. Kock (NN §1641), partly anticipated by Rydberg emends l. 3 to meir á hyggju hári and paraphrases: Bärare av guldets strålglans / söka tidigare tecken / och omfatta sedan högvist / sättet for försoningen ‘Carriers of gold’s radiance seek earlier signs and thus embrace, with high certainty, the manner of the agreement’.

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.