Anon Mgr 9^VII

Blíð og fögr sem björt og tígin
brúðrin sæt og drotning mætust
dróttins kom með dýrð að hitta
dægra sætis munka gæti.
Sýndiz móðir sunnu grundar
siklings þá með ljósi miklu
ítarlig með ilm og sætu
Ögustíno í skrúða fögrum.

{Sæt brúðrin {dróttins {sætis dægra}}} og mætust drotning, blíð og fögr, sem björt og tígin, kom með dýrð að hitta {gæti munka}. {Móðir {siklings {sunnu grundar}}} sýndiz þá Ögustíno með miklu ljósi, ítarlig, með ilm og sætu í fögrum skrúða.

{The sweet bride {of the lord {of the seat of days and nights}}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God > = Mary] and the most glorious queen, gentle and fair, as well as bright and noble, came with splendour to seek {the guardian of monks} [BISHOP = Augustine]. {The mother {of the ruler {of the sun’s land}}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God (= Christ) > = Mary] then revealed herself to Augustine with a great light, magnificent, with fragrance and sweetness in fair apparel.

Mss: 713(124)

Readings: [3] dróttins: ‘drotten’ 713

Editions: Skj AII, 474, Skj BII, 507-8, Skald II, 277; Kahle 1898, 57, Sperber 1911, 32, 74, Wrightson 2001, 5.

Notes: [All]: Cf. Mar (1871, xvi): Eptir þvilika bæn gerva með afli astarinnar birtiz vꜳr frv sancta Maria fyrr greindum gvðs manni með micilli dyrð oc liosi ‘After such a prayer made with the power of love, our lady S. Mary revealed herself to the afore-mentioned man of God with great splendour and light’. — [3] dróttins (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the lord’: Dróttinn (m. nom. sg.) ‘lord’ (‘drotten’ 713) can only be construed as a form of address, which makes no sense in the present context. The kenning brúðrinn dróttins sætis dægra ‘the bride of the lord of the seat of days and nights’ (i.e. Mary) (ll. 2, 3, 4) is mirrored in the next helmingr: móðir siklings sunnu grundar ‘the mother of the ruler of the sun’s land’ [SKY/HEAVEN > = God (= Christ) > = Mary] (ll. 5-6). The emendation follows Skj B and Skald. Wrightson suggests dróttin (m. acc. sg.) ‘the lord’ as a parallel to munka gæti ‘the guardian of monks’ (i.e. Augustine) in l. 4. According to that interpretation, sætis dægra ‘of the seat of days and nights’ (i.e. ‘of heaven’, l. 4) functions as a determinant in a kenning for Mary with drotning ‘queen’ (l. 2) as the base-word. However, it is implausible that dróttinn ‘lord’ should be used to designate Augustine. — [4] dægra ‘of days and nights’: Dægr usually designates a twelve-hour period (night or day), but it could also refer to the entire 24 hours (day and night).

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. Kahle, Bernhard, ed. 1898. Isländische geistliche Dichtungen des ausgehenden Mittelalters. Heidelberg: Winter.