Anon Mey 15^VII

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.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Unger, C. R., ed. 1877. Heilagra manna søgur. Fortællinger og legender om hellige mænd og kvinder. 2 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Bentzen.
3. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Schottmann, Hans. 1973. Die isländische Mariendichtung. Untersuchungen zur volkssprachigen Mariendichtung des Mittelalters. Münchner germanistische Beiträge 9. Munich: Fink.
7. Wolf, Kirsten, ed. 2003. Heilagra meyja sögur. Íslenzk trúarrit 1. Reykjavík: Bókmenntafræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands.
8. Internal references
9. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Máríudrápa 35’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 507-8.