Anon Líkn 12VII/1 — *
Sá * baztr frá mey mæztri
mildingr beraz vildi
heiða tjalds ok holdi
hjálmprýddan sik skrýddi;
en nauð á sik síðan
sjálfráði tók dáða
víst fyr vára löstu
vísi sjálfr með píslum.
Sá * baztr mildingr heiða tjalds vildi beraz frá mæztri mey ok skrýddi sik hjálmprýddan holdi; en síðan tók vísi sjálfr, sjálfráði dáða, nauð á sik með píslum, víst fyr vára löstu.
The best prince of heaths’ tent [SKY/HEAVEN > = God] willed to be born from a most precious maiden and clothed himself, helmet-adorned, with flesh; and later the prince himself, independently with regard to his deeds, took distress upon himself with torments, certainly for our errors.
readings
[1] Sá * baztr: Sá er baztr B, 399a‑bˣ
notes
[1] sá: Ms. ‘Sá er’; the relative particle er as pron. is problematic, and this ed. follows Skj B and Skald in omitting it. A scribal error seems possible both because of the infrequency of sá + strong adj. + noun constructions and because of recent occurrences of sá er (1/7) and sú er (10/6). Sveinbjörn Egilsson and Rydberg retain er, but this is problematic since it requires deferring the relative particle syntactically (‘The best prince ... who willed to be born’) rather than keeping it contiguous with sá (i.e. ‘That one who’). Such postponement would not allow Sá er to be cliticised and would thus produce a seventh syllable. Then, too, it would seem odd, construing ok as ‘also’ (or ‘in addition’), to say ‘The best prince ... who willed to be born ... also took on flesh’.
kennings
- Sá * baztr mildingr heiða tjalds — The best prince of heaths’ tent [= God]