Anon Pét 39^VII

Beið, þó að styrjöld stæði,
stálharðr, en guð varði;
snúða liet happa hlæðir
herferð og brá sverði.
Sneið af eyra íðinn
ástverka þræl sterkum,
áðr en andlags gæðir
umgerðar batt sverði.

Stálharðr beið, þó að styrjöld stæði, en varði guð; {hlæðir happa} liet snúða herferð, og brá sverði. Íðinn ástverka sneið af eyra sterkum þræl, áðr en {gæðir andlags} batt umgerðar sverði.

Steel-hard he stood firm, though conflict took place, and defended God; {the accumulator of blessings} [HOLY MAN = Peter] made battle hasten, and drew his sword. Zealous for acts of devotion he cut off the ear of a strong slave, before {the strengthener of the counterthrust} [WARRIOR = Peter] fastened the bindings on the sword [i.e. returned his sword to its scabbard].

Mss: 621(59r)

Readings: [3] snúða: ‘suid’ 621

Editions: Skj AII, 506, Skj BII, 554, Skald II, 304, NN §§1740, 2880; Kahle 1898, 86-7, 111.

Notes: [2] en varði guð ‘and defended God’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) takes the cl. with the sentence which follows and translates: men gud forbød ham det ‘but God forbade him that’ (i.e. forbade him to use his sword). As Kock points out (NN §2880), the order of clauses argues strongly against such an awkward reading. Taking guð as the object of varði gives better sense. — [3-4] liet snúða herferð ‘made battle hasten’: Ms. has ‘suid’, which Kahle (1898, 111) says means Raum, Platz ‘space, room’ (= Blöndal: 1 svið), without explaining how this fits the context. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to snúit and translates: foretog sig krigerfærd ‘engaged in battle’ (cf. LP: snúa 4). Kock (NN §2880) notes that this leaves the l. without skothending, and proposes instead emendation to snúða ‘to hasten, do quickly’ (cf. Þham Magndr 2/1,4^II: lét ... fǫru snúðat ‘quickly undertook a journey’). — [5-6] sneið af eyra sterkum þræl ‘he cut off the ear of a strong slave’: Cf. Pétr 13/21-4: Petrus ... hio þegar hit hægra eyra af þeim þræli kennimanna hofðingia, er Malchus het, með brugðnu sverði ‘Peter ... immediately with a drawn sword cut the right ear off that slave of the chief of the priests who was called Malchus’; John XVIII.10: Simon ergo Petrus habens gladium eduxit eum et percussit pontificis servum et abscidit eius auriculam dextram. ‘Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.’ — [7-8] áðr en gæðir andlags batt umgerðar sverði ‘before the strengthener of the counterthrust fastened the bindings on the sword’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends ms. ‘andlags’ to andlangs, takes sverði ‘with the sword’ with ll. 5-6, rather than ll. 7-8, and translates för end himlens styrer forbandt såret ‘before the ruler of heaven bandaged the wound’, admitting parenthetically: denne sætning er usikker ‘this clause is doubtful’ (cf. LP: andlangr). As Kock notes (NN §1740), Christ’s miraculous healing of Malchus’s ear does not involve bandages (cf. Pétr 13/31-2; Luke XXII.51), and gæðir andlags can without difficulty be taken as a warrior kennning (cf. LP: gæðir 2; Meissner, 287-8, 294-5). On umgerðar see Falk 1914, 33-5 (cf. Falk 1914, 28; Fritzner: friðbönd). Cf. John XVIII.11: dixit ergo Iesus Petro mitte gladium in vaginam ‘Jesus therefore said to Peter: put up thy sword into the scabbard’; Pétr 13/25: Petre, sliðra þu sverð þitt ‘Peter, sheathe your sword’; also Pétr²Aˣ 161/29-30 and PP 285/35: i umgerð ‘into the scabbard’.

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. 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.
6. 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.
7. Falk, Hjalmar, ed. 1914a. Sólarljóð. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II. Hist.-filos. kl. 7. 2 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
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.
10. Internal references
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorkell hamarskáld, Magnússdrápa 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 411.