Kirsten Wolf (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Heilagra meyja drápa 15’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 901-2.
Krossaz vildi kvinna þessi;
kom hun með sorg til Jórsalaborgar;
yfirmusterið Jésú Kristi
enn var byrgð fyr syndum hennar,
áðr himna kóngs mjúka móður
Máría bað, sú er flaut í tárum,
líknar brunnrinn lofaði henni,
langa stund, í kirkju ganga.
Þessi kvinna vildi krossaz; hun kom með sorg til Jórsalaborgar; yfirmusterið Jésú Kristi var enn byrgð fyr hennar syndum, áðr Máría, sú er flaut í tárum, bað {mjúka móður {kóngs himna}} langa stund; brunnrinn líknar lofaði henni í kirkju ganga.
This woman wanted to take the Cross; she came with sorrow to Jerusalem; the chief temple of Jesus Christ was still closed because of her sins, until Mary, who was bathed in tears, prayed {to the merciful mother {of the king of the heavens}} [= God (= Christ) > = Mary] for a long time; the fountain of mercy permitted her to enter the church.
Mss: 721(11v), 713(24)
Readings: [2] Jórsala‑: so 713, ‘josala’ 721 [8] kirkju: kirkju að 713
Editions: Skj AII, 529-30, Skj BII, 586, Skald II, 323.
Notes: [1] krossaz ‘to take the Cross’: LP assumes the verb means ‘to convert to Christianity’; Skj B has the more conservative vilde besøge korset ‘wanted to visit the Cross’, and in fact the legend does not ascribe a wish to convert to Mary at this point in her life. Rather, she joined a group of people travelling by boat to Jerusalem for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, at krossmessu (Unger 1877, I, 487; Wolf 2003, 31), without herself sharing their Christian motivation. — [2] yfirmusterið Jésú Kristi ‘the chief temple of Jesus Christ’: That is, the Holy Sepulchre, which sinners were prohibited from entering. — [7] brunnrinn líknar ‘the fountain of mercy’: = The Virgin Mary, modelled on Lat. fons misericordiae ‘fountain of mercy’, sedes misericordiae ‘seat of mercy’; cf. Anon Mdr 35/4 brunnr miskunnar ‘fountain of mercy’; Schottmann 1973, 52. It was a miraculous icon of the Virgin, which she saw in a courtyard of the church, that aided Mary and was instrumental in her conversion.
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