Anon Mgr 3^VII

Er svá komið, að ætla eg meira
öðlingur, þier, bjartra röðla
ítarligr, er öllum veitir
yndis gnógt, ef hafna syndum.
Verð eg mier að aungu orði
einhlítr, nema þið vilið beina,
sannur guð og in sælsta móðir;
sýta mun eg og iðraz lýta.

Svá er komið, að eg ætla meira þier, {ítarligr öðlingur bjartra röðla}, er veitir öllum gnógt yndis, ef hafna syndum. Eg verð mier einhlítr að aungu orði, nema þið vilið beina, sannur guð og in sælsta móðir; eg mun sýta og iðraz lýta.

Now it has happened that I expect more from you, {magnificent prince of bright suns} [= God], who grants plenty of pleasure to all if they renounce sins. I cannot become self-sufficient with any word, unless you two will want to help, true God and the most blessed mother; I will lament and repent my faults.

Mss: 713(123-124), 1032ˣ(57v-58r), 920ˣ(205r)

Readings: [6] vilið: so 1032ˣ, 920ˣ, ‘[...]í[...]ít’ 713;    beina: so 1032ˣ, 920ˣ, ‘[...]eina’ 713    [7] og: so 1032ˣ, 920ˣ, ‘[...]’ 713;    sælsta: so 1032ˣ, 920ˣ, ‘sæl[...]’ 713    [8] sýta mun eg og: so 1032ˣ, 920ˣ, ‘[...]’ 713;    lýta: so 920ˣ, ‘[...]’ 713, ‘lita’ 1032ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 473, Skj BII, 506, Skald II, 276; Kahle 1898, 56, 103, Sperber 1911, 30, 73, Wrightson 2001, 2.

Notes: [1, 2] að eg ætla meira þier ‘that I expect more from you’: The sense is that the poet expects more assistance from God to enable him to compose the poem (see Fritzner: ætla 9, citation from Njáls saga). Skj B and Skald emend meira (n. acc. sg.) ‘more’ to mæra (inf.) ‘praise’ (l. 1) and þier (m. dat. sg.) ‘from you’ to þik (m. acc. sg.) ‘you’ and read ‘that I intend to praise you’. Wrightson retains the ms. reading and translates the cl. as ‘that I intend more for you’, but the meaning of such a statement is unclear. — [2] bjartra röðla ‘of bright suns’: Röðull means ‘sun’, but the pl. form used here could refer to the sun and the moon (so Wrightson; see Note to 2/1). — [5-8]: These ll. recall Leið 34/7-8.

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. Sperber, Hans, ed. 1911. Sechs isländische Gedichte legendarischen Inhalts. Uppsala Universitets årsskrift, filosofi, språkvetenskap och historiska vetenskaper 2. Uppsala: Akademische Buchdruckerei Edv. Berling.
5. 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.
6. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
7. Kahle, Bernhard, ed. 1898. Isländische geistliche Dichtungen des ausgehenden Mittelalters. Heidelberg: Winter.
8. Internal references
9. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Njáls saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 1220-1313. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=55> (accessed 19 April 2024)
10. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 34’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 170-1.