Anon Pét 19^VII

Hóf á fjallið háva
hýrr dagbrauta stýrir
postula Pétr og lýsti
part eilífra skarta.
Ásjónu guðs sýnir
sól bjartari góligr
sonr — gleði var sveinum —
snjó hvítari að líta*.

{Hýrr stýrir {dagbrauta}} hóf Pétr postula á fjallið háva og lýsti part eilífra skarta. {Góligr sonr guðs} sýnir ásjónu bjartari sól, hvítari snjó að líta*; gleði var sveinum.

{The glad ruler {of the day-paths}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)] raised the Apostle Peter up onto the high mountain and showed him a portion of eternal splendours. {The glorious son of God} [= Christ] shows a face brighter than the sun, whiter than snow to behold; there was joy among the disciples.

Mss: 621(58r)

Readings: [5] guðs: guð 621    [8] að líta*: ‘ok litazt’ 621

Editions: Skj AII, 503, Skj BII, 549, Skald II, 301; Kahle 1898, 82.

Notes: [All]: Cf. the scriptural accounts of the Transfiguration of Christ at Matt. XVII.1-13, Mark IX.2-13, Luke IX.28-36, 2 Pet. I.16-18, and Pétr 6/32-7/5. — [2] dagbrauta ‘of the day-paths’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and Kock (Skald) emend to dagbrautar ‘of the day’s [i.e. the sun’s] path’ (see LP: dagbrautr). Cf., e.g., Anon Leið 38/6 dagskeiðs ‘of the day-course [SKY/HEAVEN]’; Árni Gd 56/5^IV röðuls brautar ‘of the path of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN]’; Meissner, 106. — [5] guðs sýnir: Ms. ‘gud synir’ (where -s is lost through haplography). — [6, 8] bjartari sól ... hvítari snjó ‘brighter than the sun ... whiter than snow’: Cf. Matt. XVII.2: resplenduit facies eius sicut sol, vestimenta autem eius facta sunt alba sicut nix ‘his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow’; Pétr 7/2-4: ꜳsiona andlitz hans skein sem sol ꜳ lo᷎nd ukominnar upprisu, klæði hans voru hvit sem snior, biartari var hann en með no᷎ckurri mannligri natturu væri likt ‘the countenance of his face shone like the sun on the lands of the future resurrection, his garments were white as snow, he was brighter than was likely in any human nature’. — [7] gleði var sveinum ‘there was joy among the disciples’: Cf. Pétr 7/13-14: Petrus gladdr af dyrð synarinnar ‘Peter gladdened by the glory of the sight’. — [8] að líta* ‘to behold’: Ms. ‘ok litazt’ ‘and they (the disciples? l. 7) seem’. Kock (Skald) accepts Finnur Jónsson’s emendation in Skj B to at líta.

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. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
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. Kahle, Bernhard, ed. 1898. Isländische geistliche Dichtungen des ausgehenden Mittelalters. Heidelberg: Winter.
7. Internal references
8. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 38’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 173.
9. Not published: do not cite (Árni Gd 56^IV)