Anon Alpost 8VII/2 — móður ‘of the mother’
Kallaz kærr af öllum
Krists bróðir guðs móður
systur sonr inn hæsti
sannr í drottins ranni.
Jácobus hefir aukið
öll verk og stórmerki,
verður vegs til dýrðar
vóttr postuli drottins.
Drekki hier dreingir inni
dýrligt Jácóbs minni.
Kærr bróðir Krists kallaz af öllum sannr sonr systur móður guðs, inn hæsti í ranni drottins. Jácobus hefir aukið öll verk og stórmerki, postuli drottins, verður vóttr vegs til dýrðar. Drekki dreingir hier inni dýrligt minni Jácóbs.
The dear brother of Christ is called by all the true son of the sister of the mother of God [= Mary], the highest in the house of the Lord. James has performed all deeds and great feats, the Apostle of the Lord, a worthy witness of the way to glory. Let the lads herein drink a glorious memorial toast for James.
notes
[2, 3, 4] sannr sonr systur móður guðs ‘the true son of the sister of the mother of God’: Cf. IO 76,1: Iacobus Alfei ... sororis matris Domini filius ‘James [son of] Alphaeus ... son of the sister of the mother of the Lord’. The Virgin Mary’s half-sister Mary, wife of Cleophas (John XIX.25), was the mother of James the Less (see Mark XV.40; cf. Cross and Livingstone 1983, 304) – a potential source of confusion, since the mother of James the Great (to whom verse 5 above is dedicated) was also the half-sister of the Virgin Mary (cf. Kilström 1962a, 530). This may support Kock’s reading of sannr (NN §1758, see Note to 1-4 above), if the poet intends to suggest here that James the Less has a greater claim than his namesake to being called ‘God’s mother’s nephew’.
kennings
- móður guðs, — of the mother of God, [= Mary]
grammar
case: gen.