Anon Líkn 41VII/5 — ferr ‘grows’
Engr fær töld með tungu
tákn þín, er nú skína,
hjálpar hneigistólpi
heims alls, of kyn beima.
Æxtr ferr valt til vaxtar
vegr þinn, er berr fegri,
hreinn, en hugðu vinnim,
hverja dýrð, of skýrða.
Hneigistólpi alls heims hjálpar, engr fær töld með tungu tákn þín, er nú skína of kyn beima. Hreinn vegr þinn, er berr hverja dýrð fegri en vinnim of skýrða hugðu, ferr valt æxtr til vaxtar.
Inclining pillar of all the world’s salvation [CROSS], none can enumerate with tongue your signs, which now shine upon the race of men. Your pure honour, which bears every glory fairer than we might express in thought, grows continually greater.
notes
[5] ferr valt til vaxtar ‘grows continually’: The verbal phrase fara (or ganga) til vaxtar means simply ‘to grow’. Adv. valt, short for ávalt ‘continually’, from adj. valr ‘round, in a circle’. The short adv. form valt also occurs in Bjbp Jóms 38/1I and Anon Mhkv 28/1III. A minor reason for taking valt as adv. rather than as n. vald ‘power’ (like Sveinbjörn Egilsson and Rydberg) is that the longer form ávalt and veg- appear in the same positions in Has 59/5-6 and Anon 34/5-6, the two poems from which Líkn draws the most details.
grammar
Verbs: Strong Verbs
The stem of the subjunctive pl. is i-mutation of the indicative pl..
lúka ‘shut, end’
| Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Past | Present | Past | ||
| Active voice | |||||
| sing. | 1 2 3 | lýk lýkr lýkr | lauk laukt lauk | lúka lúkir lúki | lyka lykir lyki |
| pl. | 1 2 3 | lúkum lúkið lúka | lukum lukuð luku | lúkim lúkið lúki | lykim lykið lyki |
| infinitive pres. part. past part. | lúka lúkandi lúkinn, lúkin, lúkit | ||||
| Middle voice | |||||
| sing. | 1 2 3 | lýkumk lýksk lýksk | laukumk laukzk lauksk | lúkumk lúkisk lúkisk | lykumk lykisk lykisk |
| pl. | 1 2 3 | lúkumk lúkizk lúkask | lukumk lukuzk lukusk | lúkimk lúkizk lúkisk | lykimk lykizk lykisk |
| infinitive pres. part. past part. | lúkask lúkandisk lúkizk | ||||