Anon Mdr 3VII
Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Máríudrápa 3’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 480-1.
Þú ‘You’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
ert ‘are’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
Máría ‘Mary’
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María (noun f.): Mary
meira ‘more’
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meiri (adj. comp.; °meiran; superl. mestr): more, most
metin ‘valued’
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2. meta (verb): measure, value, assess
allri ‘than all’
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allr (adj.): all
þjóð ‘people’
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þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people
betri ‘better’
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betri (adj. comp.; °superl. beztr/baztr; pos. góðr adj.): better, best
[2] betri: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]etri’ B
þier ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
sýnir ‘shows’
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sýna (verb): show, seem
guð ‘God’
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1. guð (noun m.; °***guðrs, guðis, gus): (Christian) God
greinir ‘discernment [lit. discernments]’
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grein (noun f.): reason, period, branch
gjarna ‘eagerly’
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gjarna (adv.): readily
sjóvar ‘of the sea’
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sjór (noun m.): sea
notes
[4] stjarna sjóvar ‘star of the sea’: That is, stella maris ‘star of the sea’, a common Lat. epithet for Mary, which was popularised in the Christian West in the antiphon Ave maris stella for the Feast of the Assumption and became a commonplace in Marian poetry, though it was the result of a serendipitous scribal error. It originates in Jerome’s Liber Interpretationis Hebraicorum Nominum (or Onomasticon), an etymological dictionary of biblical names (Antin 1959). Jerome glosses Miriam, one of several Hebrew renditions of the Virgin’s name, more or less correctly as stilla maris ‘a drop of the ocean’ (cf. Antin 1959, 137). An early copyist mistook the i in stilla for an e, and the image of the ‘star of the sea’ was born (Warner 2000, 262-3). On the relationship between the Antiphon Ave maris stella and Mdr, see Notes to sts 30-6 below.
stjarna ‘star’
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stjarna (noun f.; °*-u; *-ur): star
notes
[4] stjarna sjóvar ‘star of the sea’: That is, stella maris ‘star of the sea’, a common Lat. epithet for Mary, which was popularised in the Christian West in the antiphon Ave maris stella for the Feast of the Assumption and became a commonplace in Marian poetry, though it was the result of a serendipitous scribal error. It originates in Jerome’s Liber Interpretationis Hebraicorum Nominum (or Onomasticon), an etymological dictionary of biblical names (Antin 1959). Jerome glosses Miriam, one of several Hebrew renditions of the Virgin’s name, more or less correctly as stilla maris ‘a drop of the ocean’ (cf. Antin 1959, 137). An early copyist mistook the i in stilla for an e, and the image of the ‘star of the sea’ was born (Warner 2000, 262-3). On the relationship between the Antiphon Ave maris stella and Mdr, see Notes to sts 30-6 below.
Lofar ‘praises’
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lofa (verb): praise, permit
er ‘who’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
öllum ‘than all’
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allr (adj.): all
er ‘is’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
efri ‘higher’
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efri (adj. comp.; °superl. efstr/øfstr (eft- [$1653$] 13r²³, etc.)): higher, highest
ein ‘alone’
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2. einn (pron.; °decl. cf. einn num.): one, alone
riett ‘rightly’
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3. réttr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): right, straight, direct
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
veg ‘honour’
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2. vegr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -): honour
hreinum ‘pure’
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2. hreinn (adj.; °compar. hreinari/hreinni, superl. hreinastr/hreinstr): pure
Kristr ‘Christ’
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Kristr (noun m.; °-s/-, dat. -i; -ar): Christ
skipar ‘establishes’
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1. skipa (verb): change, place
hjá ‘beside’
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hjá (prep.): beside, with
sier ‘himself’
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sik (pron.; °gen. sín, dat. sér): (refl. pron.)
hæsta ‘the highest’
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hœgri (adj. comp.): higher, highest
kennings
hæsta drottning heims‘the highest queen of the world ’
= Mary
the highest queen of the world → Mary
heims ‘of the world’
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heimr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): home, abode; world
kennings
hæsta drottning heims‘the highest queen of the world ’
= Mary
the highest queen of the world → Mary
drottning ‘queen’
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dróttning (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-, acc. -u/-; -ar): queen
kennings
hæsta drottning heims‘the highest queen of the world ’
= Mary
the highest queen of the world → Mary
notes
[8] lið*: B’s liði must be emended (as also in 12/8 and 21/8) to provide a nom. subject for the cl.; liði is also unmetrical.
beima ‘of men’
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beimi (noun m.; °; -ar): man
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
|
Þú ert, Máría, meira |
You, Mary, are more valued [and you are] better than all people; God eagerly shows you discernment [lit. discernments], star of the sea. 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.
[1-4]: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) follows Rydberg (1907, 53) in construing betri adj. as part of the second cl., agreeing with greinir (f. acc. pl.) to give guð sýnir þér gjarna, sjóvar-stjarna, betri greinir, translated as gud viser dig gærne, sø-stjærne, bedre ting ‘God eagerly shows you, sea-star, better things’. The present edn follows Kock (NN §1635) in taking meira metin ‘more valued’ (ll. 1-2) and betri ‘better’ (l. 2) as parallel. Greinir acc. pl. is interpreted in the sense ‘discernment’. — [5-8]: This is the first occurrence of the first of the three refrains in Mdr. The helmingr is written out in full, and is marked by an obelos in the left-hand margin. The refrain is repeated in sts 12 and 21, being abbreviated in B both times (13v, 42; 14r, 7).
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