Anon Pét 51VII/8 — forna ‘ancient’
Vekr, á síðu sækir
sannleiks Pétrum, þannveg,
lýstr, en báðir bresta
brátt sundr fjötrar, dundu.
Flytr með fagnað brautu
fljótt eingill hjálp meingis,
myrkvastofa að merkiz
morni læst in forna.
Sækir sannleiks lýstr Pétrum á síðu, vekr þannveg, en báðir fjötrar bresta brátt sundr, dundu. Eingill flytr hjálp meingis brautu fljótt með fagnað, að morni merkiz in forna myrkvastofa læst.
The seeker of truth [ANGEL] strikes Peter on the side, wakes him that way, and both fetters instantly break asunder; they clattered down. The angel conveys the help of the multitude [APOSTLE] away quickly with joy, so that in the morning the ancient prison is found locked.
notes
[7-8] að morni merkiz in forna myrkvastofa læst ‘so that in the morning the ancient prison is found locked’: Acts XII.18 has only facta autem die erat non parva turbatio inter milites quidnam de Petro factum esset ‘Now when day was come, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter’. Pétr 74/20-3 expands on this: Um morgininn eptir varð eigi litit rugl milli riddara ok myrkvastofuvarðmanna ok eptirleitan, hvat af Petro væri vorþit. Fyrir þvi er eigi efanligt, at hann hefir af luktri myrkvastofunni ut farit. En ef hun hefði opin verit, þa mætti þeim auðsynt vera, at hann mundi i brottu vera. ‘The following morning there arose no small disturbance among the soldiers and prison-guards, and a search for what had become of Peter. For that reason there is no doubt that he went out of a closed prison-cell. If it had been open, then it would have been obvious to them that he was likely to have escaped.’ Cf. [Pseudo-] Petrus Comestor, Historia actuum apostolorum, col. 1688: Unde apparet, quia clausum reliquerat carcerem, alioquin non esse ambiguum eum evasisse ‘Wherefore it is apparent that he had left a closed prison-cell, otherwise there would be no doubt that he had escaped’. Cf. the parallel account of the divinely assisted prison-break at Acts V.22-3: ministri ... nuntiaverunt dicentes ‘carcerem quidem invenimus clausum cum omni diligentia et custodes stantes ad ianuas, aperientes autem neminem intus invenimus’ ‘The ministers … told, saying: The prison indeed we found shut with all diligence, and the keepers standing before the doors; but opening it, we found no man within’.