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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon Lil 22VII/1 — mátti ‘it had to’

Veitt er líf, það er varð, er mátti;
veitt er líf, það er Ádám neitti;
sú miskunn á settum tíma
sendiz fram af guðdóms hendi,
ljós í heim að lifanda kæmi;
lifandi víst og kvaldar andir
tæki burt ór djöfla díki;
dýrð einglanna slíku stýrði.

Veitt er líf, það er varð, er mátti; veitt er líf, það er Ádám neitti; sú miskunn sendiz fram á settum tíma af hendi guðdóms, að lifanda ljós kæmi í heim; tæki burt víst lifandi og kvaldar andir ór djöfla díki. Dýrð einglanna stýrði slíku.

Life is given, that which came into being when it had to; life is given, that which Adam refused; that mercy was sent forth at the appointed time from the hand of the Godhead, so that a living light might come into the world; it would take away truly living and tormented souls from the devils’ pit; the glory of angels controlled such [a thing].

notes

[1] það er varð, er mátti ‘that which came into being when it had to’: Eiríkur Magnússon’s glossary (1870, 115) suggests ‘a life which came when it might, i.e. in fit season’. Another possible translation is ‘that which became what it had to become’. Skj B and Skald choose to read the third er of l. 1 as ok ‘and’ (so 99a, 713, 705ˣ and 4892), producing the cl. þat er varð ok mátti ‘[life] which was and could be [given]’. Skj B translates Det liv er givet, som måtte og kunde gives ‘That life is given, which had to be and could be given’.

grammar

Verbs: Preterite-present verbs

The present tense of these verbs is like the past tense of strong verbs, and their past tense is weak.

eigamegakunnaskulumunumuna
indic.
pres.
sing.


pl.
1st
2nd
3rd
1st
2nd
3rd
á
átt
á
eigum
eiguð
eigu

mátt

megum
meguð
megu
kann
kannt
kann
kunnum
kunnuð
kunnu
skal
skalt
skal
skulum
skuluð
skulu
mun
munt
mun
munum
munuð
munu
man
mant
man
munum
munið
muna
indic. past stem
subj. pres. stem
subj. past stem
átt-
eig-
ætt-
mátt-
meg-
mætt-
kunn-
kunn-
kynn-
skyld-
skyl-
skyld-
mund-
myn-
mynd-
mund-
mun-
mynd-
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