Anon Líkn 15^VII

Þoldi halshögg hölda
hildingr með spýtingum;
vörðr hlaut fróns af fyrðum
flest skaup ok kinnhesta.
Hann bar hneyxl af mönnum
hverja lund ok stundir
— píndr var hann berr ok bundinn
barðr — viðfarar harðar.

{Hildingr hölda} þoldi halshögg með spýtingum; {fróns vörðr} hlaut af fyrðum flest skaup ok kinnhesta. Hann bar hneyxl hverja lund af mönnum ok harðar stundir viðfarar; berr var hann píndr ok barðr, bundinn.

{The king of men} [RULER = Christ] endured neck-blows along with spittings; {earth’s guardian} [RULER = Christ] received from men extreme mockery and slaps. He bore disgrace in every way from men and hard hours of mistreatment; bare, he was tortured and bound, beaten.

Mss: B(11v), 399a-bˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 153, Skj BII, 164, Skald II, 87, NN §1853C; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 39-40, Rydberg 1907, 14, 49, Tate 1974, 60.

Notes: [All]: The st. is remarkably similar to a passage from the OIcel. Lenten sermon (HómÍsl 1993, 49v; HómÍsl 1872, 109): oc hann þolþe bǫnd. oc hálshogg. kiɴhesta. oc hrækingar. oc bardaga ‘and he endured binding, and neck-blows, slaps, and spittings, and beating’. — [3] fróns vörðr ‘earth’s guardian [RULER = Christ]’: Elsewhere kennings employing vörðr ‘guardian’ as base-word and some form of ‘land’ or ‘earth’ as determinant (e.g. vörðr foldar ‘guardian of the earth’, vörðr grundar ‘guardian of the plain’, landvörðr ‘land-guardian’, láðvörðr ‘land-guardian’) refer only to earthly kings. On the need for context to determine whether such a kenning refers to Christ or an earthly king, see Snorri Sturluson’s discussion in Skm (SnE 1998 1, 78). Typically when vörðr is used in a God-kenning it is combined with ‘heaven’ or a heaven-kenning, as in Geisl 19/3, Leið 10/1, Has 30/4. The poet uses the latter in 29/3-4 (vörðr sólar slóðar ‘guardian of the sun’s track [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’). The poet’s choice of two kennings for ruler in this st. is probably intended to point up a contrast between the true status of Christ and his humiliation during the Flagellation. His humanity is underscored by the omission of kenning ornament in the second helmingr and by the repetition of the plain pron. hann, which is, however, unmetrical in l. 7. Stylistically the helmingr, like Christ at the Flagellation, is ‘bare’.

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. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. Tate, George S. 1974. ‘Líknarbraut: A Skaldic Drápa on the Cross’. Ph.D. thesis. Cornell University. DAI 35:6112A.
6. HómÍsl 1872 = Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1872. Homiliu-bók: Isländska homilier efter en handskrift från tolfte århundredet. Lund: Gleerup.
7. HómÍsl 1993 = de Leeuw van Weenen, Andrea, ed. 1993. The Icelandic Homily Book: Perg. 15 4° in the Royal Library, Stockholm. Íslensk handrit/Icelandic Manuscripts Series in quarto 3. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi.
8. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1844. Fjøgur gømul kvæði. Boðsrit til að hlusta á þá opinberu yfirheyrslu í Bessastaða Skóla þann 22-29 mai 1844. Viðeyar Klaustri: prentuð af Helga Helgasyni, á kostnað Bessastaða Skóla. Bessastaðir: Helgi Helgason.
10. Internal references
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 24 April 2024)
13. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 10’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 149-50.
14. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 19’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 22-3.
15. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 30’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 99.