Anon Mdr 8^VII

Sæl og harðla heilug,
heyr, Máría, várar
bænir, bragna pínu
bót og synda ljótra.
Höll taktu í frið fullan
fljótt miskunnar dróttins
af greypustu glæpa
grandi várar andir.

Sæl og harðla heilug Máría, heyr bænir várar, bót bragna pínu og ljótra synda. {Höll {miskunnar dróttins}}, taktu fljótt andir várar af greypustu grandi glæpa í fullan frið.

Blessed and very holy Mary, hear our prayers, remedy for men’s torment and ugly sins. {Hall {of the mercy of the Lord}} [= God (= Christ) > = Mary], quickly fetch our souls from the cruellest pain of sins into secure peace.

Mss: B(13v), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [3] bænir: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘b[...]ner’ B;    bragna: ‘[...]ragna’ B, ‘ḅragna’ 399a‑bˣ    [7] greypustu: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘gr[...]puztu’ B

Editions: Skj AII, 465, Skj BII, 498, Skald II, 272; Konráð Gíslason 1860, 556, Rydberg 1907, 33, 54, Attwood 1996a, 103-4, 304.

Notes: [5-6] höll miskunnar dróttins ‘hall of the mercy of the Lord [= God (= Christ) > = Mary]’: ‘The mercy of the Lord’ is understood as a kenning for Christ. The figure of Mary as the ‘hall’ (Lat. palatium) of Christ, based on her having ‘housed’ him in her womb, is fairly common in later Christian poetry (e.g. Mgr 28/1, Anon Lil 90/5, Arngr Gd 57/3-4^IV; cf. Schottmann 1973, 49 and nn). — [5] í fullan frið ‘into secure peace’: Cf. Leið 41/5, where the hope is expressed that the saved will go to heaven í fullan frið ‘in secure peace’ after the Last Judgement.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
4. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. Schottmann, Hans. 1973. Die isländische Mariendichtung. Untersuchungen zur volkssprachigen Mariendichtung des Mittelalters. Münchner germanistische Beiträge 9. Munich: Fink.
6. Internal references
7. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 41’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 175.
8. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Drápa af Máríugrát 28’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 780.
9. Not published: do not cite (Arngr Gd 57^IV)
10. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 90’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 663-5.