Anon Líkn 49^VII

Vilda ek af þér, aldar
angrstríðandi, síðarr
enn fyr óðgerð mína
eiga gjöld með leigum.
Áðr hefi ek önnur gæði,
eirsamr, hlotit meiri
þín, en ek þér fá launat
— þat óttumz ek — dróttinn.

Angrstríðandi aldar, ek vilda enn síðarr eiga gjöld með leigum af þér fyr óðgerð mína. Áðr hefi ek hlotit önnur meiri gæði þín, en ek þér fá launat, eirsamr dróttinn; þat óttumz ek.

Grief-fighter of mankind, I would like still later to gain recompense with interest from you for my poetry-making. Previously I have received other and greater blessings from you, than I can repay you, merciful Lord; that frightens me.

Mss: B(12r), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [7] en: ‘[...]’ B, eṇ 399a‑bˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 159, Skj BII, 173, Skald II, 91, NN §2584 Anm.; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 50, Rydberg 1907, 19-20, 53, Tate 1974, 94.

Notes: [2] angstríðandi ‘grief-fighter’: A circumlocution for Christ as the saviour of mankind from despair on account of sin. Cf. Has 21/6. LP extends the basic sense of angr ‘grief, worry’ to ‘sorrow for sins’. Cf. angrhegnandi ‘grief/harm suppressor’ 23/6 and angrskerðandi ‘grief-diminisher’ 51/6. — [2] síðarr ‘later’: Skj B, followed by Skald, emends síðarr to síðan, translating enn (l. 3) síðan as fremdeles engang ‘further someday’. But síðar(r) ‘later’ (so also Sveinbjörn Egilsson and Rydberg) makes sense if understood to refer to future reward; the poet requests that the poem be counted to his soul’s good after death. — [3] óðgerð ‘verse, poetry-making’: The cpd occurs earlier in Geisl 10/3. — [5] gæði ‘good things, blessings’: Related to adj. góðr ‘good’; in the sense of religious blessing, even salvation, also in Leið 40/7. NN §2584, Anm. changes Skj B’s translation goder ‘goods’ to väljärningar ‘kind deeds’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Tate, George S. 1974. ‘Líknarbraut: A Skaldic Drápa on the Cross’. Ph.D. thesis. Cornell University. DAI 35:6112A.
8. 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.
9. Internal references
10. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 40’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 174.
11. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 10’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 15-16.
12. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 21’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 21-2.