Anon Pét 48VII/8 — lífs
Varð yfir várum hirði
vel skýrð gleði dýrðar
hærri en heimrinn fyrri
Kemr í stað að styðja
sterkligt trúar merki
mildingr mána foldar
†mýr lífs fyldur skýrum†.
Vel skýrð gleði dýrðar, hærri en heimrinn fyrri ... varð yfir várum hirði. Mildingr foldar mána kemr í stað að styðja sterkligt merki trúar; †mýr lífs fyldur skýrum†.
A well-expounded joy of glory, greater than the world previously ... came over our pastor. The king of the land of the moon [SKY/HEAVEN > = God (= Christ)] comes at once to support the strong standard of faith; ...
notes
[8] †Mýr lífs fyldur skýrum†: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) merely notes: den sidste linje er uforståelig ‘the last line is incomprehensible’. Kock objects to bisyllabic fyldur (see Note to st. 4/2) and proposes that lífs is a transcription error for lífi, and skýrum an error for skýru. He takes mýr (a form the authenticity of which is confirmed by both alliteration and internal rhyme) as the MIcel. word meaning ‘immense quantity’ (see Blöndal: mýr), which he suggests is here used as an intensifying prefix in a nonce-cpd mýrlíf: mýrlífi fylldr skýru translated as fylld av klart, oändligt liv ‘filled with clear eternal life’, referring to mildingr l. 7. This unusual use of mýr- as a prefix, however, does not appear to be attested elsewhere. Kahle (1898, 111-12) records a suggestion of Finnur Jónsson’s that mýrlíf may be a cpd meaning ‘earthly life’ if the first element is mýrr ‘swamp’, used in the extended sense ‘land’ (cf. kennings like Fáfnis mýrr ‘Fáfnir’s land’ for ‘gold’, más mýrr ‘the gull’s land’ for ‘sea’). If ms. ‘skyrum’ is an error for skýranns (cf. st. 23/2 sólranns), the l. might perhaps be construed: ‘[Christ] ... filled with the life of the land (mýr-) of the cloud-house [SKY/HEAVEN]’ (i.e. ‘filled with eternal life’): fylla can take either gen. or dat.; cf. Fritzner: fylla. See LP: skýrann (and cf. especially the similarly redundant heaven-kenning skýranna tjaldi (dat.) ‘tent of the cloud-halls’ at Anon Óldr 28/5,8I).