Jón laut í höll hreinum
hjarta sals hins bjarta
meyjar mannvitsfrægrar
mildingi bragninga.
Jón laut hreinum mildingi bragninga í höll hins bjarta sals hjarta mannvitsfrægrar meyjar.
John bowed to the pure ruler of princes [= God (= Christ)] in the hall of the bright chamber of the heart [BREAST > WOMB] of the maiden famous of understanding.
[All]: Two interpretations of this helmingr are possible. The first as given here (so also Skj B) understands John the Baptist to bow to Christ while in his own mother, Elizabeth’s, womb. However, it is also possible to understand the phrase mannvitsfrægrar meyjar ‘of the maiden famous of understanding’ (l. 3) to refer to the Virgin Mary rather than Elizabeth, in which case the kenning í höll hins bjarta sals hjarta ‘in the hall of the bright chamber of the heart [BREAST > WOMB]’ (ll. 1, 2) refers to the Virgin’s womb and to Christ within it. — [1, 2] í höll hins bjarta sals hjarta ‘in the hall of the bright chamber of the heart [BREAST > WOMB]’: Following the suggestion of Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SnE 1848-87, III, 157) and Björn Magnússon Ólsen (FoGT 1884, 260 n. 3), this kenning has been interpreted as having two elements, although it is possible to understand it as having only one, with the sole referent being ‘womb’.
Pronouns and determiners: Definite article
The definite article is normally suffixed to nouns, except in some cases where it is used with an adjective. If the noun form ends in a vowel, the 'i' in the article is dropped. If the noun form ends in 'um', the 'm' and 'i' are both dropped. E.g. hesta (acc. pl.) > hestana (acc. pl. definite); hestum (dat. pl.) > hestunum (dat. pl. definite)
masc. | fem. | neut. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
sing. | N A G D | inn inn ins inum | in ina innar inni | it it ins inu |
pl. | N A G D | inir ina inna inum | inar inar inna inum | in in inna inum |