Anon Mv I 2VII/5 — sælli ‘the blessed’
Ástvin guðs inn æsti,
Andréas, bið eg, að standi,
nefndr, með nógleiks orðum
nafn þitt hjá mier jafnan,
svá að sælli meyju,
sætt hreinlífið, mætti
inna jartegn sanna
áhlýðandi lýðum.
Inn æsti ástvin guðs, nefndr Andréas, eg bið að nafn þitt standi jafnan hjá mier með orðum nógleiks, svá að, sætt hreinlífið, mætti inna lýðum sanna jartegn sælli meyju áhlýðandi.
Noblest bosom-friend of God, named Andrew, I ask that your name always stand by me with words of abundance, so that, sweet virtuousness, I could tell people about a true miracle while the blessed Virgin is listening.
notes
[5, 8] sælli meyju áhlýðandi ‘while the blessed Virgin is listening’: This is an absolute dat. (see NS §120). Kock (Skald; NN §1679) retains the dat. (sælli meyju ‘blessed Virgin’), but connects it with the verb inna ‘relate’ (l. 7) and translates it as åt den heliga jungfrun ‘in honour of the blessed Virgin’. This construction is unclear. Wrightson (2001) also retains the dat., but connects it with sanna jartegn ‘a true miracle’ (l. 7) (‘a true miracle performed by the blessed Virgin’). Skj B emends to sællar meyjar ‘of the blessed Virgin’ (l. 5) and also connects it with sanna jartegn ‘a true miracle’ (l. 7) (‘a true miracle of the blessed Virgin’). Earlier eds treat áhlýðandi lýðum (l. 8) as one nominal phrase, and Skj B translates it as i folks påhør ‘in the hearing, presence of people’. Wrightson has ‘to attentive people’. LP: áhlýðandi gives the construction as an absolute dat. with lýðum ‘while people are listening’. However, in OIcel. the -i ending in dat. pl. is late and rare (see ANG §435, Anm. 1).