Anon Mey 9^VII

Máría hlaut hin yngsta æru
angri svift, er tók að giftaz;
Zébédéus mildrar meyjar
móður fekk að vilja góðum.
Þeira sonr má heita herra
harðla kunnr, er guðs son unni,
postuli Jón við mildleik mestan
mektarsannr og Jacóbus annarr.

Hin yngsta Máría, svift angri, hlaut æru, er tók að giftaz; Zébédéus fekk mildrar meyjar að góðum vilja móður. Þeira sonr má heita harðla kunnr herra, er guðs son unni, Jón postuli við mestan mildleik, mektarsannr, og Jacóbus annarr.

The youngest Mary, deprived of sorrow, gained honour when she got married; Zebedee received in marriage the gentle maiden with the good will of her mother. Their son can be called a very famous lord, whom God’s son loved, the Apostle John with the greatest mercifulness, in possession of true might and the second James.

Mss: 721(11r), 713(23)

Editions: Skj AII, 528, Skj BII, 584, Skald II, 322, NN §2971A.

Notes: [All]: The Apostles James the Great and John are said to be the sons of Zebedee in gospel accounts (Matt. IV.21 and Mark I.19). The notion that John (and therefore James) was the son of the Virgin Mary’s sister is found in many medieval sources and was well known in Iceland; cf. this poem, st. 10/1 and Gamlkan Jóndr 3/1, where John is also called Christ’s systrungr ‘sister’s son, cousin whose mothers are sisters’; see also Jón⁴ 1874, 466 and AÍ I, 56. — [8] mektarsannr ‘in possession of true might’: In LP it is suggested that the adj. may mean ‘capable of performing miracles’. — [8] og Jacóbus annarr ‘and the second James’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) interprets this phrase to mean ‘and James [was] the other [son]’, but, in view of the poet’s mention of the Apostle James the Less in st. 8/5, it seems more plausible here that he intends to differentiate James the Great, brother of John and son of Zebedee, from James the Less, son of Alpheus.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 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. AÍ = Kålund, Kristian and Natanael Beckman. 1908-18. Alfræði íslenzk: Islandsk encyklopædisk litteratur. 3 vols. SUGNL 37, 41 and 45. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Jón⁴ 1874 = Jóns saga postula. In Unger 1874, 466-9³⁴, 470³³-513²².
8. Internal references
9. Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Jónsdrápa 3’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 135-6.