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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Ník Kristdr 1III/2 — heitnu ‘the promised’

Tveir, hykk, at ber bæri
beitnôrungar — heitnu
stund esa lífs á landi
lǫng — meðal sín á stǫngu.
Þat kníðu ber báðir
— bergr oss trúa — á krossi
— svá hefr aldin goð goldit —
Gýðingr ok heiðingi.

Hykk, at tveir beitnôrungar bæri ber meðal sín á stǫngu; stund esa lǫng á heitnu landi lífs. Báðir, Gýðingr ok heiðingi, kníðu þat ber á krossi; trúa bergr oss; svá hefr goð goldit aldin.

I believe that two ship-nourishers [SEAFARERS] carried the grape between them on a pole; time is not long in the promised land of life. Both, the Jew and the heathen, oppressed that grape on the cross; faith saves us; thus God has repaid the fruit.

readings

[2] heitnu: ‘hettin’ W

notes

[2, 3] á heitnu landi ‘in the promised land’: Following Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SnE 1848-87, III), Björn Magnússon Ólsen (TGT 1884, 236) assigns this prepositional phrase to the first clause: ‘I believe that two ship-nourishers [SEAFARERS] carried the grape between them on a pole in the promised land’. While that interpretation is possible, it obscures the ambiguity of the parabole, because the first helmingr then refers exclusively to the story in the Old Testament.

grammar

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