Anon Mv III 25^VII

Göfugligt guðs víf
giefr fyrir utan ef
að hófi hægt líf;
heimar skiftuz klerk þeim.
Síðan undir sátt bauð
sættandi fljóð* mætt,
að hann rietti ráð sitt;
rausnar var það fögr lausn.

{Göfugligt víf guðs} giefr fyrir utan ef hægt líf að hófi; heimar skiftuz þeim klerk. Síðan bauð mætt, sættandi fljóð* undir sátt, að hann rietti ráð sitt; það var fögr lausn rausnar.

{The glorious wife of God} [= Mary] grants [the man] without doubt a pleasant life according to his ability; worlds were exchanged for that cleric. Then the splendid, reconciling lady stipulated in accordance with the reconciliation that he should mend his ways; that was a fine redemption of esteem.

Mss: 721(16v), 1032ˣ(154v)

Readings: [3] að (‘ạṭ’): so 1032ˣ, ‘[...]’ 721    [6] fljóð*: fljóðið 721

Editions: Skj AII, 500, Skj BII, 544, Skald II, 298, NN §1706, Metr. §§12C, 14A, 17C; Kahle 1898, 48, 102, Sperber 1911, 21, 68-9, Wrightson 2001, 79.

Notes: [1] víf guðs ‘wife of God’: For an analysis of such references to the Virgin Mary, see Schottmann 1973, 92-4. — [3] að hófi ‘according to his [the cleric’s] ability’: The prep. að ‘with’ (‘ạṭ’ in 1032ˣ) is conjectural, and the phrase is difficult to translate in this context (see NN §1706). Skj B and Skald both supply af ‘from’ rather than að ‘according to’, and read med mådehold ‘with moderation’ (so Skj B) or av nåd ‘from mercy’ (so NN §1706). Wrightson translates it as ‘moderately’. The corresponding place in Mar (1871, 607-8) reads as follows: Nu huerf aptr til þins likama … ok hygg at uanduirkuliga, huersu þier hæfir að lifa ‘Now return to your body … and think about it carefully, how it behoves you to live’. — [6] fljóð* ‘lady’: So Skald. The ms. reading (fljóðið ‘the lady’) is unmetrical, because the word in penultimate position must be monosyllabic or consist of two short syllables. — [8] lausn rausnar ‘redemption of esteem’: For rausn ‘esteem’ see Fritzner: rausn 1. Skj B takes this as a cpd rausnarlausn ‘splendid redemption’ whose parts are separated by tmesis. Wrightson treats rausnar (f. gen. sg.) as an otherwise unattested adv. ‘splendidly’.

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. Schottmann, Hans. 1973. Die isländische Mariendichtung. Untersuchungen zur volkssprachigen Mariendichtung des Mittelalters. Münchner germanistische Beiträge 9. Munich: Fink.
6. Sperber, Hans, ed. 1911. Sechs isländische Gedichte legendarischen Inhalts. Uppsala Universitets årsskrift, filosofi, språkvetenskap och historiska vetenskaper 2. Uppsala: Akademische Buchdruckerei Edv. Berling.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Kahle, Bernhard, ed. 1898. Isländische geistliche Dichtungen des ausgehenden Mittelalters. Heidelberg: Winter.