Anon Mdr 17^VII

Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Máríudrápa 17’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 492-4.

text and translation

notes and context

Here begins the poet’s rendition of the antiphon Gaude virgo gratiosa ‘Rejoice, virgin full of grace’ (AH 9, 54, no. 66; Schottmann 1973, 519) which extends to st. 19. Lines 1-2 render the first l. of the Lat. hymn. B is illegible in many places, so the readings of previous transcribers, notably the 399a-bˣ transcriber and Rydberg, have been drawn on to reconstruct the text. — [3-4]: These ll. are difficult and the ms. readings uncertain in several places. However, they should correspond to the 2nd l. of the Lat. hymn, verbum verbo concepisti ‘you conceived the word from the word’. This can be achieved with a small number of emendations, viz., orð (l. 3) and orð again (l. 4), while accepting 399a-bˣ’s readings orði (l. 3) and forðum (l. 4). B’s ‘barth’ (l. 4) is understood as the 2nd pers. sg. pret. of bera ‘to bear’. Finnur Jónsson offers no interpretation of ll. 3-4, and reproduces only those words which are clearly legible in B. Kock (Skald) conjectures dýr gazt oss af ærnu | óð guðs ok bæn fróða ‘glorious, you have provided us amply with song and wise prayer to God’, which makes sense, but bears little relation to what of the text is preserved. It is clear from sts 19 and 20, which are concerned with the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the Coronation of the Virgin, that st. 17 is the first part of an evocation of the five joys of Mary. This st. should therefore deal with the Annunciation and the Nativity. — [5-8]: Compare ll. 3-4 of the hymn Gaude virgo gratiosa: Gaude, tellus fructuosa, / fructum vitae protulisti ‘Rejoice, fruitful earth, you bore the fruit of life’.

readings

• [1] megni: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]egne’ B
• [2] miskunnar: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]skunnar’ B
• [2] fullrunnin: ‘fullr[...]nn[...]’ B, fullrunnum 399a‑bˣ, ‘fullr(u)nni(n)’(?) BRydberg
• [3] orð: ‘[...]’ B, öll 399a‑bˣ, oss BRydberg, BFJ
• [3] orði: so 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, ‘[...]e’ B, ‘[...]’ BFJ
• [4] orð: ‘[...]’ B, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘oṛð̣’ 399a‑bˣ
• [4] bart*: ‘barth’ B, 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, bænir BFJ
• [4] forðum: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]’ B, ‘frodan’ BRydberg, ‘frodv’ BFJ
• [5] jörð: so 399a‑bˣ, orð B, ‘(i)o᷎rd’(?) BRydberg, ‘[...]o᷎rd’ BFJ
• [6] alfrjávuð*: ‘alfriafuðan’ B
• [6] fekkt: ‘[...]ck’ B, ‘feck’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘fickt’ BRydberg, ‘[...]’ BFJ
• [8] leyndardóma: ‘l[...]d[...]mma’ B, ‘ley[...]do[...]a’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘l[...]d(om)a’(?) BRydberg, ‘l[...]’ BFJ
• [8] blóma: ‘blom[...]’ B, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘blome’ 399a‑bˣ

sources

Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.

• AM 757 a 4° (B) — 13v/49 - 14r/1

  Fagnaðu, mær af †[...]egne†
  †[...]skunnar fullr[...]nn[...]†;
  dýr, gaztu †[...]† af †[...]e†,
  †[...]† guðs og †barth [...]†.
  Fagnaðu, orð, því að orðin
  †alfriafuðan [...]ck† hávan
  lífs ávöxt og leyfðan
  †l[...]d[...]mma blom[...]†.

  Fagna þu męr af …egne …skunnar | fullr…nn… dýr gaztu …af …e… guds ok barth… fagnadu orð þuiat vorden alfriafuðan || …ck hafan lífs auo᷎xt ok leýfdan l…d…mma blom…

  (EB)

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• JS 399 a-b 4°x (399a-bx)

  Fagnaðu, mær af megni
  miskunnar fullrunnum;
  dýr, gaztu öll af orði,
  †oṛð̣† guðs og †barth† forðum.
  Fagnaðu, jörð, því að orðin
  alfrjávuð* †feck† hávan
  lífs ávöxt og leyfðan
  †ley[...]do[...]a blome†.

• Lbs 444 4°x (444x)

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