Anon Lil 32^VII

Hjörtun játi; falli og fljóti
fagnaðarlaug af hvers manns augum;
æ þakkandi miskunn mjúka
minn drottinn, í holdgan þinni;
Sie þier dýrð með sannri prýði,
sunginn heiðr af öllum tungum
eilífliga með sigri og sælu;
sæmd og vald það minkaz aldri.

Hjörtun játi; {fagnaðarlaug} falli og fljóti af hvers manns augum, æ þakkandi mjúka miskunn í holdgan þinni, drottinn minn. Sie þier dýrð með sannri prýði, heiðr sunginn af öllum tungum, eilífliga með sigri og sælu; sæmd og það vald minkaz aldri.

Let hearts confess; let {a hot spring of joy} [TEARS] fall and flow from every man’s eyes, forever thanking mild mercy in your Incarnation, my Lord. Let there be to you glory with true beauty, honour sung from all tongues, eternally with victory and blessing; honour and that power will never be diminished.

Mss: Bb(114va), 720a VIII(2v) (ll. 1-4), 99a(7r), 622(28-29), 713(8), Vb(249), 41 8°ˣ(115), 705ˣ(9r), 4892(29v)

Readings: [1] falli: fagni 4892    [2] fagnaðarlaug: so 720a VIII, 99a, 622, 713, Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 705ˣ, 4892, ‘fagnadadar laug’ Bb    [3] æ: og 41 8°ˣ, guði 705ˣ;    þakkandi: þakkandi corrected from ‘misku’ Bb;    miskunn mjúka: mikla miskunn 720a VIII, miskunn mikla 99a, 713, 705ˣ, 4892    [4] í: so 99a, 622, 713, Vb, 705ˣ, 4892, fyrir Bb;    holdgan: hier vist 713, 4892    [5-8] abbrev. as ‘Se þ. d. ;’ Bb, ‘Sie þier dyrd med sannri:’ 99a, ‘Sie þier dyrd med sannre prydi:’ 622, 705ˣ, ‘Sie þier dyrd [...]is s. p. s. h.’ 713    [5] þier: þar 4892    [6] tungum: sæla 4892    [7] eilífliga: so Vb, 41 8°ˣ, æfinliga Bb, ilífliga 4892;    sigri: sigr 4892    [8] sæmd: sæmk 4892;    það: þitt Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892;    minkaz: minkiz Vb, 41 8°ˣ, 4892

Editions: Skj AII, 374, Skj BII, 399, Skald II, 217.

Notes: [2] fagnaðarlaug ‘hot spring of joy’: In ON, as in MIcel., compounds with fagnaðar- as the first element are common. Laug means literally ‘hot spring’ or ‘bath’. JH notes that the metaphor here has to do with the heat of the tears and not their cleansing ability. — [3] mjúka miskunn ‘mild mercy’: This may be an allusion to the medieval topos of the dispute in heaven between the personified virtues Mercy, Truth, Peace, and Justice: the virtues debate the fate of fallen humanity, and Mercy eventually prevails, persuading the second person of the Trinity to become incarnate and bring about salvation. The topos, based on Ps. LXXXIV.11 (misericordia et veritas occurrerunt iustitia et pax deosculatae sunt ‘Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed’) was widespread: for classic examples see Meditaciones Vite Christi, De Contencione inter Misericordiam et Veritatem (Stallings-Taney 1997, 12-14; Taney 2000, 6-8), and Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermo 1 In Annuntiatione Dominica (Leclerq and Rochais 1968, 22-9). — [5-8]: The second iteration of the stef introduced at st. 26. Most mss abbreviate the ll., but Vb, 41ˣ and 4892 have them in full. The scribe of Bb adds a cross within a square immediately after his abbreviated l. 5, within the body of the text column, not in the margin.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.