Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1997, Page 62

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Marianne Kalinke
noted, that Hallfreðr could have been aware of, or wanted to express, any
theological complexities. Instead, Bjarni suggested that Hallfreðr could have
heard a sermon on God’s anger, and that this impressed him sufficiently to furnish
the imagery for the stanza (p. 148). This may very well have been the case, but
there is also another explanation. Theodor Hjelmquist was the first to suggest a
possible influence of Ps. 2,11—12 on the wording of the stanza, that is:
Serve the Lord with fear,
with trembling kiss his feet,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way;
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who trust in him.18
Bjarni Einarsson expressed surprise that Hjelmquist did not draw w. 7—8 of the
same psalm into the discussion, verses that in fact concern the very issue addressed
in Hallfreðr’s poem.19 Verses 7—8 of Ps. 2 are as follows:
I tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me: You are my Son, today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make nations your heritage,
and the world your possession.
Bjarni did not elucidate; instead he remarked that it is more likely that a learned
saga author rather than a newly converted heathen might have had some
acquaintance with theological issues.20 His comment is well taken. In the context
of the account of the conversion of the Icelanders, however, as it is related in Óláfi
saga Tryggvasonar, an allusion to or a reflection of the psalm is not out of the
question — but in a somewhat different manner than that suggested by Hjelmq-
uist.
In the account of the conversion of the Icelanders, foremost among them
Kjartan and Bolli, as reported in Óláfi saga Tryggvasonar en mesta, the Christmas
liturgy plays an important role. Oddly enough, in Heimskringla’s redaction of the
saga, Snorri Sturluson moves this important episode to the feast of St. Michael
the Archangel.21 That this occurred at Christmas, however, is attested by Oddr
Snorrason.22 In any case, in Óláfi saga Tryggyasonar en mesta Hallfreðr is among
Ársskrift, N.F. Avd. 1, 19:2 (Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup, 1923), #521.
18 1 cite the text of the psalm as found in Artur Weiser, The Psalms: A Commentary (Philadelphia:
The Westminster Press, 1962), p. 109. See his commentary to Psalm 2, pp. 108-116.
19 Skáldasögur, p. 192; To skjaldesagaer, p. 148.
211 Bjarni Einarsson, Skáldasögur, p. 191: “óneitanlega væru þau sennilegri í vísu lærðs rithöfundar
á 13du öld en nýskírðs manns”; cf. Bjarni Einarssson, To skjaldesagaer, p. 148.
21 In Snorri Sturluson’s Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar we read: “Þá kom Mikjálsmessa. Lét konungr þá
halda mjpk, lét syngva messu hátíðliga. íslendingar gengu til ok hlýddu syng fpgrum ok
klukknahljóði” (Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, 1, ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson, íf, 26 [Reykjavík:
Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1941], p. 329).