Krossaz vildi kvinna þessi;
kom hun með sorg til Jórsalaborgar;
yfirmusterið Jésú Kristi
enn var byrgð fyr syndum hennar,
áðr himna kóngs mjúka móður
Máría bað, sú er flaut í tárum,
líknar brunnrinn lofaði henni,
langa stund, í kirkju ganga.
Þessi kvinna vildi krossaz; hun kom með sorg til Jórsalaborgar; yfirmusterið Jésú Kristi var enn byrgð fyr hennar syndum, áðr Máría, sú er flaut í tárum, bað mjúka móður kóngs himna langa stund; brunnrinn líknar lofaði henni í kirkju ganga.
This woman wanted to take the Cross; she came with sorrow to Jerusalem; the chief temple of Jesus Christ was still closed because of her sins, until Mary, who was bathed in tears, prayed to the merciful mother of the king of the heavens [= God (= Christ) > = Mary] for a long time; the fountain of mercy permitted her to enter the church.
[1] krossaz ‘to take the Cross’: LP assumes the verb means ‘to convert to Christianity’; Skj B has the more conservative vilde besøge korset ‘wanted to visit the Cross’, and in fact the legend does not ascribe a wish to convert to Mary at this point in her life. Rather, she joined a group of people travelling by boat to Jerusalem for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, at krossmessu (Unger 1877, I, 487; Wolf 2003, 31), without herself sharing their Christian motivation.