Ník Kristdr 1III/8 — heiðingi ‘the heathen’
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.
notes
[8] Gýðingr ok heiðingi ‘the Jew and the heathen’: This must refer back to the two ‘seafarers’ (tveir beitnôrungar) in l. 1. The commentary in TGT explains this mixed company as follows (TGT 1927, 89): Tveir menn, er berit báru, merkja tvennar þjóðir, er at váru píningu guðs sonar, þat eru gyðingar ok heiðnir menn ‘The two men, who carried the grape, denote the two races of men who were present at the torment of the son of God, those are the Jews and heathen men’. Hence the heathen were the Romans.