Anon Sól 56VII/2 — sonu ‘the sons’
Norðan sá ek ríða niðja sonu
ok váru sjau saman;
hornum fullum drukku þeir inn hreina mjöð
ór brunni Baugreyris.
Ek sá sonu niðja ríða norðan ok váru sjau saman; þeir drukku inn hreina mjöð ór brunni Baugreyris fullum hornum.
I saw the sons of the dark phases of the moon riding from the north, and they were seven together; they drank the pure mead from the well of Baugreyrir out of full horns.
notes
[2] sonu niðja ‘the sons of the dark phases of the moon’: In ON there are two words, nið n. and niðar f. pl. (LP: 1. nið n. and niðar f. pl.) that mean both the waning moon and the time before the new moon (cf. Vsp 6/5, Vafþr 24/6). There is no equivalent English word, so the translation here ‘the dark phases of the moon’ attempts to approximate the ON with a phrase. The f. pl. form niðar has facultative <j> in gen. pl. Who ‘the sons of the dark phases of the moon’ are is uncertain; Falk (1914a, 35-6), as also Paasche (1948, 188-9), see them as angels or archangels coming to Christ’s aid. Björn M. Ólsen (1915, 53-4) argues that they are the inhabitants of a Norse limbus patrum, the wise pagans who cannot enter Heaven or Hell. Njörður Njarðvík (1991, 88) also sees these men as the denizens of Purgatory, neither good enough to join the hart of st. 55 nor wicked enough to be the prey of the dragon of st. 54.