Anon Sól 54VII
Carolyne Larrington and Peter Robinson (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Sólarljóð 54’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 333-4.
Vestan sá ek fljúga vánardreka
ok fell á Glævalds götu;
vængi þeir skóku, svát víða þótti mér
springa hauðr ok himinn.
Vestan sá ek vánardreka fljúga ok fell á götu Glævalds; þeir skóku vængi, svát hauðr ok himinn þótti mér springa víða.
From the west I saw a dragon of expectation flying and it landed on Glævaldr’s road; they shook their wings, so that earth and heaven seemed to me to spring widely apart.
Mss: 166bˣ(47v), papp15ˣ(5v), 738ˣ(82r-v), 214ˣ(151r), 1441ˣ(585), 10575ˣ(8r), 2797ˣ(235)
Readings: [1] Vestan: vitar 738ˣ, 214ˣ [3] fell: felli 10575ˣ [4] þeir skóku: skóku þeir 10575ˣ [5] þótti mér: þótti meir 738ˣ, mér þótti 2797ˣ
Editions: Skj AI, 636, Skj BI, 644, Skald I, 313; Bugge 1867, 365-6, Falk 1914, 31, Björn M. Ólsen 1915, 17, Fidjestøl 1979, 67, Njörður Njarðvík 1991, 83-4, Njörður Njarðvík 1993, 60, 129.
Notes: [1-2]: Skj B and Skald divide these ll. thus: Vestan sák | fljúga vánardreka. — [1] vestan ‘from the west’: See Note to 55/2 for the significance of cardinal directions in the poem. — [2] vánardreka ‘dragon of expectation’: The meaning of vánar- is not entirely clear; presumably the dragon expects to prey on souls. Björn M. Ólsen (1915, 50-1) takes Ván as a river-heiti, as in Grí 28/8, and interprets the creature as Leviathan (Job XLI). The number of dragons is also unclear; more than one dragon is suggested by þeir skóku ‘they shook’ in l. 4, but fell ‘fell’ in l. 3 is universally sg. in the mss. — [3] fell á götu Glævalds ‘fell on Glævaldr’s road’: Njörður Njarðvík (1991, 83-4) suggests that it is the narrator’s soul which lands there, hence the sg. verb. Glævaldr has been taken by most eds as an otherwise unknown pers. n., though Skj B and LP: glævaldr take it as a common noun cpd of uncertain meaning, suggesting the first element is either associated with glær ‘sea’ or with glær adj. ‘transparent, clear, shining’. Bugge (1867, 366) tentatively suggests glæv-ellds ‘of glowing flame’. Following Bugge, Falk (1914, 31-2) reads fella glævalds götu, translating efterlatende en lysende ildstripe ‘leaving a glowing trail’, eliminating the sg. verb. — [4] þeir skóku ‘they shook’: Skj B and Skald emend the pl. verb to sg. skók. Njörður Njarðvík (1991, 84) explains the pl. by assuming that the dragon of l. 2 is accompanied by others. Björn M. Ólsen (1915, 51) suggests that the pl. verb refers both to the vánardreki and to Glævaldr, also envisaged as a winged being. Njörður Njarðvik (1991, 194) notes earlier eds’ comparison of the dragon with the dragon of Revelations XII. Many visions have similar dragon-like beasts who devour souls, e.g. Dugg (Cahill 1983, 58-61).
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- 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.
- Fidjestøl, Bjarne, ed. 1979a. Sólarljóð: Tydning og Tolkningsgrunnlag. Nordisk Instituts skrifteserie 4. Bergen, Oslo and Tromsø: Universitetsforlaget.
- Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1915a. Sólarljóð: gefin út með skíringum og athugasemdum. Safn til sögu Íslands og íslenzkra bókmenta 5.1. Reykjavík: Prentsmiðja Gutenberg.
- Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1867. Norrœn fornkvæði. Islandsk samling af folkelige oldtidsdigte om nordens guder og heroer. Almindelig kaldet Sæmundar Edda hins frøda. Christiania (Oslo): Malling. Rpt. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget 1965.
- Cahill, Peter, ed. and trans. 1983. Duggals leiðsla. RSÁM A 25. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
- Falk, Hjalmar, ed. 1914a. Sólarljóð. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II. Hist.-filos. kl. 7. 2 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
- Njörður P. Njarðvik, ed. 1991. Sólarljóð. Útgáfa og umfjöllun. Íslensk Rit 10. Reykjavík: Bókmenntafræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands og Menningarsjóður.
- Njörður P. Njarðvik. 1993. Solsången. Akademisk avhandling för filosofiedoktorsexamen i nordiska språk. Göteborgs universitet: Institutionen för svensk språket.
- Dugg = Duggals leiðsla (see Cahill 1983)
- Internal references
- Not published: do not cite ()
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