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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon Lil 10VII/6 — merki ‘fixed’

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.

readings

[6] merkistjörnur: merki og stjörnur 713, 4892

notes

[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).

grammar

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