Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 10’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 572-3.
Dagarnir sex að vísu vuxu
veltiligir um sjávarbelti,
áðr en feingi alla prýði
jörð og loft, það er drottinn gjörði:
pressað vatn í himininn hvassa,
hjörn og eld sem merkistjörnur,
hagl og dýr sem fiska og fugla,
fagran plóg sem aldinskóga.
Að vísu vuxu sex dagarnir veltiligir um sjávarbelti, áðr en jörð og loft feingi alla prýði, það er drottinn gjörði: vatn pressað í himininn hvassa, hjörn og eld sem merkistjörnur, hagl og dýr sem fiska og fugla, fagran plóg sem aldinskóga.
Truly, the six rolling days spread across the sea-belt, before earth and air received all the glory that the Lord made: the water compressed into the stormy sky, ice and fire as well as fixed stars, hail and animals along with fish and birds, fair crop and fruit-bearing woods.
Mss: Bb(113vb), 720a VIII(2r) (l. 8), 99a(2v-3r), 622(24-25), 713(6), Vb(247), 41 8°ˣ(106-107), 705ˣ(4r), 4892(26r)
Readings: [1] Dagarnir: so 99a, 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892, Dægrin Bb; vuxu: uxu 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ [2] sjávar‑: úthafs‑ 713, upphafs‑ 4892 [3] prýði: friði 41 8°ˣ [4] það er: er 622, 713, sem Vb, 4892, það 705ˣ [5] pressað: ‘preszast’ 4892; himininn: himinum 622 [6] eld: so 99a, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, eldr Bb; merkistjörnur: merki og stjörnur 713, 4892 [7] hagl og: haglig 99a, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ; dýr: dríf 713 [8] sem: og 99a, 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892
Editions: Skj AII, 366, Skj BII, 393, Skald II, 213.
Notes: [1] dagarnir (m. nom. pl.) ‘the days’: The majority ms. reading, which must be adopted against Bb’s dægrin, with similar meaning, but dægr ‘a period of 24 hours’ is n., and the adj. veltiligir ‘rolling’ (l. 2) is m. pl. — [2] veltiligir ‘rolling, that which can be overturned or rolled’: Normally used of a stone or a wheel, see Fritzner: veltiligr. — [2] sjávarbelti ‘sea belt’: Hap. leg., the world-encircling sea. — [5-8]: The works of creation are in apposition to prýði, hence the use of the acc. (JH). — [5] hvassa ‘harsh, sharp’: Hvass can be used to describe strong wind or harsh weather. See Fritzner: hvass 2 and LP (1860): hvass. — [6] merkistjörnur ‘fixed stars’: An allusion to Gen. I.14: dixit autem Deus fiant luminaria in firmamento caeli ut dividant diem ac noctem et sint in signa et tempora et dies et annos ‘And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years’. Mar uses this word for the star of Bethlehem (Mar 1871, 31); in TGT it appears in a discussion of the music of the spheres (SnE 1848-87, II, 64).
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