Anon Heildr 3VII/4 — vandan ‘hard-won’
Hugfyldra, blést, hölda
heilagra guð fögrum
vitr, þeim er vísdóm betrir
vandan, spektaranda.
Sú hefr einkagjöf grænkat
geðfjöll liði snjöllu
(erat seggja trú) tryggva
(tóm) siðferðar blómi.
Vitr guð hugfyldra heilagra hölda, blést fögrum spektaranda, þeim er betrir vandan vísdóm. Sú tryggva einkagjöf hefr grænkat geðfjöll snjöllu liði blómi siðferðar; trú seggja erat tóm.
Wise God of courageous holy men, you inspired the beautiful spirit of understanding which improves hard-won wisdom. That true, unique gift has made green the mind-mountains [SOULS] for wise people with the bloom of moral conduct; the faith of men is not empty.
notes
[4] vandan ‘hard-won’: The adj. vandr is usually translated ‘difficult, painstaking’, and derives from the verb vanda ‘to make elaborately, take care and pains in (a work or choice)’ (LP: vanda). The reference may be to worldly understanding, which is utterly ineffectual unless bolstered by the Holy Spirit (see, for example, Eph. I.17-22, Col. I.9). Vandr is translated ‘hard-won’ here, in an attempt to exploit connotations of both the difficulty and the skill of the endeavour.