Anon Pét 46^VII

Leitar lífs á brautir
lærisveinn að næra
sína önd og sýnir
sæmiligust oss dæmi.
Gleðr því gramr í hljóði
glyggranns brjóstið * hryggva,
(fystum) harmi og hæstum
hirt (kallmanna birtiz).

Lærisveinn leitar á brautir lífs að næra sína önd og sýnir oss sæmiligust dæmi. Því gleðr {gramr {glyggranns}} í hljóði brjóstið hryggva og hirt hæstum harmi; birtiz fystum kallmanna.

The disciple seeks after the paths of life to nourish his soul, and shows us the finest examples. Therefore {the king {of the storm-house}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)] gladdens in silence his breast, sorrowful and castigated with the deepest grief; he reveals himself [to him] first among males.

Mss: 621(59v)

Readings: [6] *: ‘jd’ 621    [7] fystum: ‘fystan h’ with superscript abbreviation mark 621;    hæstum: ‘hæstan’ 621

Editions: Skj AII, 507, Skj BII, 556, Skald II, 304, NN §1748; Kahle 1898, 88, 111.

Notes: [1] brautir lífs ‘the paths of life’: From Ps. XV.11 (quoted in Peter’s sermon at Acts II.28) notas mihi fecisti vias vitae ‘Thou hast made known to me the ways of life’ (Pétr²Aˣ 163/39: kunnar gerðir þu mer lifs gotur ‘you have made known to me the ways of life’; PP 288/9: lifs gꜹtur ‘paths of life’). Before his crucifixion Peter declares (Pétr 109/18): nu ganga fætr minir lifs go᷎tu ‘now my feet walk the path of life’. Cf. Manz 1941, no. 1035: via vitae ‘the way of life’; Heildr 7/6-8: guðs menn, þeirs vel renna ... braut lífs ‘men of God who run well ... the way of life’. — [5-6] gleðr ... brjóstið ‘gladdens ... his breast’: Cf. Pétr 15/27-8: hverr mun ætla kunna, hvilikr fagnaðr þa mun birtz hafa hans briosti ‘who will be able to think of what sort of joy will then have been revealed to his heart?’. — [5-6] gramr glyggranns ‘the king of the storm-house’: Cf. Mark Frag 1/1-2^III; Meissner, 105, 378. — [7, 8] fystum kallmanna ‘first among males’: i.e. after Christ’s appearance to Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph (Matt. XXVIII.1, 9) or to Mary Magdalene alone (according to Mark XVI.9; John XX. 14-17). Cf. Pétr 15/24-16/9: Petrus ... for þa til leiðis sins meistara, ok truir heilug kristni, at þa hafi hann seð Jesum, þo greinir eigi guþspiallabok, með hverium hætti sia vitran varð ... þorði hann varla at koma milli annarra Kristz lærisveina, fyrr en guðs engill birti konunum, at Petrus skylldi fara fyrir Jesum i Galileam. En nu vissi han sik fyrstan af karlmonnum, eptir þvi sem guðspiallit vattar, set hafa sialfan guð af dauða risinn, ok truði sik i sætt tekinn við sialfan hann ... Sva visa bækr ꜳ, at þvi villdi Jesus konum fyrr birtaz en oðrum monnum, at sva sem fyrir konuna kom dauðinn i heiminn, bæri konan fyrst þau tiðindi i heiminn, at guðs son væri til lifs af dauða risinn; en þvi fyrr Petro en auðrum lærisveinum, at hans hagr stoð með meiri hættu en annarra guðs vina, ok var giarnari skiott at vita upprisu sins haleita meistara sakir einkannligrar elsku en no᷎ckurr annarr karlmaðr. ‘Peter ... went to the tomb of his master, and holy Christendom believes that he then saw Jesus, although the book of the gospels does not record in what manner that vision occurred ... He hardly dared to come among the other disciples of Christ, until God’s angel revealed to the women that Peter should go before Jesus into Galilee. But now he knew that he was the first from among males, according to what the gospel testifies, to have seen God himself risen from death, and he believed that he was reconciled with [Jesus] himself ... Books point out that Jesus wished to appear to women before other people, because just as death came into the world on account of woman, woman should first have borne those tidings into the world that the Son of God was risen to life from death; and to Peter before the other disciples, because his condition was in greater peril than that of the other friends of God, and he was more eager than any other male to acknowledge readily the resurrection of his sublime master because of his special love.’ Lucy Collings (1969, 90) points out that the beginning of this passage is based on Petrus Comestor, Historia scholastica, ch. 190, col. 1639: verisimile est, quod Dominus apparuit ei in via, et si non legatur in Evangelio. De quo dicitur: ‘Apparuit et Petro’ ‘it is probable that the Lord appeared to him on the way, even if it is not read in the Gospel. Concerning which it is said: “And he has appeared to Peter”.’ (cf. Luke XXIV.34).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 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. Collings, Lucy G. 1969. ‘The Codex Scardensis: Studies in Icelandic Hagiography’. Ph.D. thesis. Cornell University. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms Inc.
6. Kahle, Bernhard, ed. 1898. Isländische geistliche Dichtungen des ausgehenden Mittelalters. Heidelberg: Winter.
7. Manz, Georg. 1941. Ausdrucksformen der lateinischen Liturgiesprache bis ins elfte Jahrhundert. Texte und Arbeiten herausgegeben durch die Erzabtei Beuron. Abteilung I, Beiheft I. Beiträge zur Ergründung des älteren lateinischen christlichen Schrifttums und Gottesdienstes 1. Beuron in Hohenzollern: Beuroner Kunstverlag.
8. Internal references
9. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Heilags anda drápa 7’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 457-8.
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Fragments 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 293.