Anon Mdr 22VII/1 — Váttr ‘a witness’
Váttr ertu, seggja sættir,
sannhróðig guðs móðir;
lætr eigi lymskar mútur
ljúgorð af þier kúga.
En, ef gagns þurfa þegnar
þíns við nauðsyn sína,
góðs vitnis ber þú gotnum
greinir framm með einurð.
Váttr ertu, sættir seggja, sannhróðig móðir guðs; lætr eigi lymskar mútur kúga ljúgorð af þier. En, ef þegnar þurfa gagns þíns við nauðsyn sína, ber þú framm gotnum greinir góðs vitnis með einurð.
You are a witness, reconciler of men, truly famous mother of God [= Mary]; you do not allow cunning bribes to force lying words from you. But if men need your support in their neediness, you bear forth for men good testimony [lit. elements of good witness] with sincerity.
notes
[1] váttr ‘a witness’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends to vitr adj. ‘wise’, which he construes with seggja sættir (l. 1) ‘reconciler of men’. In this he is followed by Kock (Skald). Here B’s ‘vo᷎ttr’ is read as váttr. In the context of the remainder of the st., váttr makes thematic sense, and may be taken in apposition with seggja sættir. The figure of Mary as advocata nostra ‘our advocate’ is common in Christian Lat. poetry, and may derive from the antiphon Salve regina.