Anon Líkn 3VII/2 — miskunnar ‘of mercy’
Hneig, er veitir vægðir
vígrunni, miskunnar
hreina hugðubænum
heyrn þína, guð, mínum;
allr týnumz ek ella,
ítr, sem þú mátt líta,
guð, nema gæzku saðrar
gipt þín of mér skíni.
Guð, er veitir vægðir vígrunni, hneig þína hreina heyrn miskunnar mínum hugðubænum; ella týnumz ek allr, sem þú, ítr guð, mátt líta, nema þín gipt saðrar gæzku skíni of mér.
God, [you] who grant mercies to the battle-bush [WARRIOR], incline your pure ear [lit. hearing] of mercy to my loving prayers; otherwise I am completely lost, as you, glorious God, can see, unless your gift of true grace shine upon me.
notes
[2] miskunnar ‘of mercy’: Apo koinu; the gen. can go either with vægðir ‘mercies’ (so Skj B) or heyrn ‘hearing’, or even guð ‘God’. Analogues to the first, a tautology, are found in the OIcel. Nativity homily lícn miscuɴar ‘grace of mercy’ (HómÍsl 1993, 23v; HómÍsl 1872, 48) and in liturgical Lat. (clementia misericordiae ‘mercy of compassion’, Manz 1941, 112, no. 165). The second (heyrn), favoured by Rydberg 1907, 47, is also echoed in the liturgy (aures clementiae, aures misericordiae ‘ears of mercy, compassion’, Manz 1941, 80-1, nos 91-2) and in the late medieval Icel. Rósa 1/3-4 (probably influenced by Líkn): hneig þu þitt enn helgi drottenn | heyrenda myskunnar eyra ‘Holy Lord, incline your listening ear of mercy’ (ÍM I.2, 6).