Gripla - 20.12.2018, Page 154

GRIPLA154
It is important to reiterate, for the purposes of the present article, that the
verb *nazjan- ‘save’ is found in West Germanic (old English as nerian etc.)
and Gothic (nasjan) but apparently not in north Germanic.
3.2. ealdornere in Azarias 54
The dative form ealdornere occurs once in Azarias (az. 54), an old English
narrative poem based on the old testament. the poem is preserved in the
Exeter Book (Codex Exoniensis, Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501).54
Incidentally, this tenth-century manuscript is the largest preserved collec-
tion of old English poetry. the part of the poem that is relevant in the
present context is given here:
Swa se halga wer hergende wæs
meotudes miltse, ond his modsefan
rehte þurh reorde. ða of roderum wearð
engel ælbeorhta ufon onsended,
wlitescyne wer in his wuldorhoman,
cwom him þa to are ond to ealdornere
þurh lufan ond þurh lisse.55
a Modern English prose translation by Daniel anlezark is as follows:
So the holy man was praising the creator’s mercy and spoke his
mind aloud. then from the skies above a radiant angel was sent, a
beautiful man in his glorious robe, who came as a favor and as a
lifesaver to them in love and in kindness. He, holy and heaven-
bright, forced back the flame.56
It deserves special attention that ealdornere is here translated as ‘lifesaver’.
thus, the underlying interpretation differs from the one in Bosworth and
toller, given above (‘a life-salvation, life’s safety, refuge, asylum; vitæ ser-
vatio, refugium’). the translation they offer for this particular verse is: ‘he
come [i.e. came] to them for mercy and for their life’s salvation.’ this may
54 Old Testament Narratives, ed. by Daniel anlezark (Cambridge, Ma: Harvard university
Press, 2011), vii.
55 Ibid., 304.
56 Ibid., 305.