Anon Heildr 4^VII

Aflnægir seðr öflgu
jóð — huggari þjóðar,
átt, þann er aldri fættisk,
auð — skilningar brauði,
því er oss með hug hvössum
hrein brjóst ok trú fóstrar;
glöð lætr guðdóms eðli
guma kyn föður skynja.

Aflnægir seðr jóð öflgu brauði skilningar — huggari þjóðar, átt auð, þann er aldri fættisk — því er fóstrar oss hrein brjóst með hvössum hug ok trú; lætr {glöð kyn guma} skynja guðdóms eðli föður.

The strength-granter satisfies his children with the powerful bread of understanding — you, comforter of people, have the wealth that never diminishes — which fosters in us pure hearts [lit. breasts] along with keen thought and faith; it allows {the cheerful race of men} [MANKIND] to comprehend the divine nature of the Father.

Mss: B(10r), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [4] auð: so 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘[...]uð’ B;    brauði: so 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘bra[...]ðe’ B    [6] brjóst: so 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘[...]riost’ B    [7] eðli: ‘e[...]’ B, BFJ, ‘(æ[...]læ)’(?) BRydberg

Editions: Skj AII, 160-1, Skj BII, 175-6, Skald II, 92, NN §3162; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 52-3, Rydberg 1907, 1, 45, Attwood 1996a, 55, 151.

Notes: [1] aflnægir ‘strength-granter’: A kenning-like periphrasis for the Holy Spirit. There are very few specific periphrases for the Holy Spirit in skaldic verse, and most are in this poem; cf. Meissner, 371. — [2] huggari þjóðar ‘comforter of people’: Another kenning-like reference to the Holy Spirit. The figure of the Holy Spirit as ‘comforter’ is a commonplace of medieval hymnody and exegesis. Its origin seems to reside in the post-Vulgate, C7th Lat. translation of the Greek παράκλητως in John XIV.16 and XXVI.15 as consolator ‘comforter’ (Cross and Livingstone 1983: Comforter, the). Cf. st. 12/2 huggari. — [6] guðdóms eðli ‘the divine nature’: Lit. ‘nature of divinity’. This edn follows Finnur Jónsson and Rydberg in adopting Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s reconstruction of eðli, acc. sg. of n. eðli ‘nature, character’, here. Although Rydberg’s tentative reading ‘(æ…læ) (?)’ (i.e. e…le) cannot be taken on trust, since neither Skj A nor 399a-bˣ is able to make out more than the initial letter, ðl is required for skothending with glöð lætr ‘cheerful race’ (l. 7).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
6. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
7. Cross, F. L. and E. A. Livingstone. 1983. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2nd edn. 4th impression. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 3rd rev. edn 2005 by E. A. Livingstone. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1844. Fjøgur gømul kvæði. Boðsrit til að hlusta á þá opinberu yfirheyrslu í Bessastaða Skóla þann 22-29 mai 1844. Viðeyar Klaustri: prentuð af Helga Helgasyni, á kostnað Bessastaða Skóla. Bessastaðir: Helgi Helgason.