Anon Mgr 2^VII

Gjarna vilda eg hilmis hlýrna
hróðr dýrligan að finna móður;
vænti eg hryggr, að verkann þiggi
vandað sæti heilags anda.
Umgaupnandi allrar skepnu,
orðið gief, sem eg mun krefja,
eitt eða tvau, svá að yrkja mættig
enn sem fyrr til dýrðar henni.

Eg vilda gjarna að finna dýrligan hróðr {móður {hilmis hlýrna}}; eg vænti hryggr, að vandað sæti heilags anda þiggi verkann. {Umgaupnandi allrar skepnu}, gief orðið, sem eg mun krefja, eitt eða tvau, svá að mættig yrkja enn sem fyrr til dýrðar henni.

I would like very much to find precious praise {for the mother {of the ruler of the sun and the moon}} [= God (= Christ) > = Mary]; I hope, sorrowful, that the adorned seat of the Holy Spirit may accept the poem. {Encompasser of all creation} [= God], give the word which I may require, one or two, so that I can compose again as before to her glory.

Mss: 713(123)

Editions: Skj AII, 472, Skj BII, 505, Skald II, 276; Kahle 1898, 56, Sperber 1911, 30, 73, Wrightson 2001, 1.

Notes: [1] hlýrna (m. gen. pl.) ‘of the sun and the moon’: When used in the pl., hlýrn ‘sun’ or ‘moon’ refers to both celestial bodies. — [2] að ‘to’: The inf. marker is metrically and syntactically superfluous and has been omitted in Skj B and Skald. — [4] vandað sæti heilags anda ‘the adorned seat of the Holy Spirit’: The Virgin Mary. For ‘seat’ or ‘throne’ as a base-word in circumlocutions for Mary, see Schottmann 1973, 55-7 and Salzer 1886-93, 38-9. — [5] umgaupnandi allrar skepnu ‘encompasser of all creation [= God]’: Umgaupnandi ‘encompasser’ (nomen agentis) is formed from an unattested verb *gaupna um ‘hold in the palm of the hand’ (gaupn ‘palm of the hand’; see also Kálf Kátr 36/3 and Geisl 16/7). — [6]: Note that this even l. contains two alliterating staves (orðið ‘the word’; eg ‘I’). — [8] enn sem fyrr ‘again as before’: This implies that the poet has composed poetry in honour of Mary before (see also Introduction to Anon Vitn).

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. Schottmann, Hans. 1973. Die isländische Mariendichtung. Untersuchungen zur volkssprachigen Mariendichtung des Mittelalters. Münchner germanistische Beiträge 9. Munich: Fink.
5. Sperber, Hans, ed. 1911. Sechs isländische Gedichte legendarischen Inhalts. Uppsala Universitets årsskrift, filosofi, språkvetenskap och historiska vetenskaper 2. Uppsala: Akademische Buchdruckerei Edv. Berling.
6. Wrightson, Kellinde, ed. 2001. Fourteenth-Century Icelandic Verse on the Virgin Mary: Drápa af Maríugrát, Vitnisvísur af Maríu, Maríuvísur I-III. Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series 14. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
7. Salzer, Anselm. 1886-93. Die Sinnbilder und Beiwörte Mariens in der deutschen Literatur und lateinischen Hymnenpoesie des Mittelalters. Seitenstetten (Nieder-Österreich): Ober-gymnasium der Benediktinerabtei. Rpt. 1967. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
8. Kahle, Bernhard, ed. 1898. Isländische geistliche Dichtungen des ausgehenden Mittelalters. Heidelberg: Winter.
9. Internal references
10. Kirsten Wolf (ed.) 2007, ‘Kálfr Hallsson, Kátrínardrápa 36’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 953-4.
11. Kari Ellen Gade 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Vitnisvísur af Máríu’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 739-57. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1047> (accessed 19 April 2024)
12. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 16’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 20-1.