Anon Pét 1^VII

Orð satt upphafs gjörði*
eitt næst stafi hæsta
— orð trúi* fyst það * fyrðar —
föður líkt, og með ríkti.
Gjörði alt með orði
ítr guð* stórt og lítið;
orð var sent, en særðiz
sonr, mey guðs, að deyja.

Eitt satt orð, líkt föður, gjörði* næst hæsta upphafs stafi og ríkti með; trúi* fyrðar fyst það * orð. Ítr guð* gjörði alt, stórt og lítið, með orði; orð var sent {mey guðs}, en sonr særðiz að deyja.

The one true word, like the Father, made completely the highest beginnings and ruled with [him]; let men believe that word [was] first. Glorious God made everything, great and small, with the word; the word was sent {to the maid of God} [= Mary], but [her] son was wounded to die [i.e. to death].

Mss: 621(57v) (Pétr)

Readings: [1] gjörði*: gjörðir 621    [3] trúi*: trúik 621;    það *: það er 621    [6] guð*: guðs 621

Editions: Skj AII, 500-1, Skj BII, 545, Skald II, 299, NN §§1707, 1708, 2831; Kahle 1898, 78, 109.

Notes: [1-4]: For the interpretation followed here, see NN §1707. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) takes ll. 1-2 and 3-4 together. — [1-2] upphafs stafi ‘beginnings’: Kock (NN §2831) compares the use of stafir ‘staves’ in, e.g., flærðar stafir (= flærðir ‘falsehoods’), feiknstafir (= feiknir ‘portents’). Hence upphafs stafir = upphöf. — [1] gjörði* ‘made’: Cf. John I.1. The ms. reading gjörðir is ungrammatical. — [2] næst ‘completely’: See LP: nær 3. — [3] trúi* ‘let (men) believe’: Ms. truik (the -k possibly from miscopying of initial f- in the next word). — [6] guð* ‘God’: Ms. ‘ɢuds’ (-s probably by dittography of initial s- in next word). — [7-8] orð var sent mey guðs ‘the Word was sent to the maid of God’: i.e. in the Annunciation (Luke I.26-35). Cf., e.g., Hóm 671² 187/1-4. Kock (NN §1708) argues instead that the ll. should be punctuated: orð var sent, en særðiz sonr mey guðs at deyja ‘the word was sent, but for the maid of God the son was wounded to death’.

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. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
7. Kahle, Bernhard, ed. 1898. Isländische geistliche Dichtungen des ausgehenden Mittelalters. Heidelberg: Winter.