Anon Pét 24^VII

Bar Jónam guð greinir
góðan Símón þjóðum;
nafn skýrir ‘berg skærast’
skýrt ritningar vitni.
Yfir það berg til bjarga
blíðr kva*z mundu smíða
kristni kennir fastra
Kristr hermargra lista.

Guð greinir þjóðum Símón Bar Jónam góðan; skýrt vitni ritningar skýrir nafn ‘berg skærast’. Yfir það berg kva*z Kristr, blíðr kennir fastra lista, mundu smíða kristni til bjarga hermargra.

God explains to nations that Simon Bar-Jona is good; the clear testimony of scripture interprets his name as ‘purest rock’. Upon that rock, Christ, the joyful teacher of steadfast virtues, said that he would build Christianity for the salvation of very many.

Mss: 621(58v)

Readings: [4] skýrt: ‘skyr’ 621    [6] kva*z: ‘kuaudz’ 621    [7] kennir: ‘kennj’ 621;    fastra: fastna 621

Editions: Skj AII, 504, Skj BII, 550-1, Skald II, 302, NN §1725; Kahle 1898, 83, 110.

Notes: [1-2]: Cf. Matt. XVI.17: beatus es Simon Bar Iona ‘blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona’; Pétr 6/6-7: Sæll ertu, Simon Jonsson ‘Blessed art thou, Simon son of John’; sts 11/1, 25/1 and Notes. — [3-4]: Cf. Matt. XVI.18: ego dico tibi quia tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam ‘I say to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church’; Pétr 6/9-11: ek segi þer, at þu ert steinn, ok yfir þann steinn mun ek smiða mina kristni ‘I say to you that you are a rock, and over that rock I will build my Christianity’. (See st. 32/5-6 and Note.) — [4] skýrt ‘clear’: Ms. ‘skyr’, emended to agree with vitni (l. 4) (n. nom. sg.) — [7-8]: Both Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and Kock (Skald) emend ms. ‘kennj’ to nom. sg. kennir, which they take in apposition with Kristr. Finnur emends ms. ‘fastna’ to fasta to agree with kristni (f. acc. sg.), and reads (ll. 6-7): kvaz mundu smíða kristni ... fasta ‘said that he would build a firm Christianity’. Kock (NN §1725) argues that the ms. form is more likely the product of confusion of <r> and <n>, and emends to fastra (gen. pl.), which he construes with kennir ... lista ‘teacher of firm skills’. Both Finnur and Kock take hermargra with lista (‘of very many skills’). With the reading adopted here, til bjarga ... hermargra ‘for the salvation of very many’ (ll. 6-8), cf., e.g., Leið 20/8: margri þjóð til bjargar ‘as a help to many a people’.

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. Kahle, Bernhard, ed. 1898. Isländische geistliche Dichtungen des ausgehenden Mittelalters. Heidelberg: Winter.
6. Internal references
7. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 20’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 158-9.