Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Anon Lil 11VII/3 — af ‘from’

Breytti guð og brá til hætti
blóð og hold af vatni og moldu,
liettan blástr af lofti næsta,
lífs heitleika af sólar reitum,
önd og þar til síðan sendi;
sú er skiljandi drottins vilja;
leið kunnandi um líkams æðar,
líf skínanda af helgum anda.

Guð breytti og brá hætti til, blóð og hold af vatni og moldu, liettan blástr af lofti næsta, heitleika lífs af reitum sólar, og sendi síðan þar til önd; sú er skiljandi vilja drottins, kunnandi leið um æðar líkams, skínanda líf af helgum anda.

God transformed and changed his behaviour, blood and flesh from water and soil, the light breath from the nearest air, the warmth [lit. warmths] of life from the paths of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN], and then he sent a soul there; it is discerning the Lord’s will, knowing the path through the body’s blood vessels, the shining life from the Holy Spirit.

notes

[3] af lopti næsta ‘from the nearest air’: This may be a reference to the lowest heaven, the heaven nearest the earth. Following biblical tradition (cf. 2 Cor. XII.2) the ON Eluc posits three heavens: Þrir ero himnar. einn licamlegr sa es ver megom sia. Annarr andlegr. þar es andlegar scepnor bvggua þat ero englar. Enn þriþe es scilningar himinn þar es heilog þenning bvggver. oc helger englar mego þar sia Goþ ‘There are three heavens: first a physical heaven which we can see; the second heaven is spiritual, where the spiritual beings called angels live; and the third is the heaven of understanding, where the Holy Trinity lives and where the holy angels can see God’ (Eluc 1992, 4-5). Cf. þriðja himni ‘third heaven’ 40/2. The alternative ms. reading, lopti hæsta ‘the highest heaven’ is meaningless in this context (see Schottmann 1973, 194-5 n. 10).

grammar

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Word in text

This view shows information about an instance of a word in a text.