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af yduare asionu”), in Mary’s replies to Joseph (aM 696 IX 4to 1r4 “bere
þier aungua ...”), and in Mary’s prayer to God the father (aM 696 IX 4to
1v22 “þier síaít ollum skepnum fædu”). Except in formal speech to royalty,
these so-called þéringar were uncommon in Icelandic before the fifteenth
century.20 It is interesting that, while Mary and Joseph use þér in their
dialogue with each other, they both use þú when speaking to the newborn
Christ (even though the Latin source has vos). Perhaps the Icelandic author
felt that using the formal pronoun here would detract from the tenderness
of the scene.
the language of the sermon is otherwise unremarkable, except for the
presence of several loanwords from the mainland Scandinavian languages,
most of which derive ultimately from Middle Low or Middle High
German. Examples include the following:
heimugliga “secretly” (← MLG heimelik) — aM 696 IX 4to 2v1621
skjalliga “with certainty, honestly” (cf. oDan schællegæ, oSw,
skiällikä) — aM 696 VIII 4to 1r8 skíæliga22
strax “immediately” (← MLG stra[c]kes) — aM 696 VIII 4to 1v2123
traktéra “treat” (← MHG traktieren) — aM 696 VIII 4to 1r14
tracterít24
Loans of this type are usually attributed to the influence of the Low
German-speaking Hanseatic League in the late medieval period, although
20 Björn K. Þórólfsson, Um íslenskar orðmyndir á 14. og 15. öld og breytingar þeirra úr fornmál-
inu með viðauka um nýjungar í orðmyndum á 16. öld og síðar (reykjavík: félagsprentsmiðjan,
1925), 42; see Stefán Karlsson, The Icelandic Language, trans. rory Mcturk (London: Short
Run Press, 2004), 28.
21 Christian Westergård-nielsen, Låneordene i det 16. århundredes trykte islandske litteratur,
Bibliotheca arnamagnæana 6 (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1946), 152–53; Sigfús Blöndal,
Islandsk-Dansk Ordbog (reykjavík, 1920–24), 313; Veturliði Óskarsson, Middelnedertyske
låneord i islandsk diplomsprog frem til år 1500, Bibliotheca arnamagnæana 43 (Copenhagen:
Reitzel, 2003), 254.
22 Westergård-nielsen, Låneordene, 302–3; finn Hødnebø, Ordbog over Det gamle norske
Sprog: Rettelser og Tillegg (oslo: universitetsforlaget, 1972), 322; Sigfús Blöndal, Islandsk-
Dansk Ordbog, 731; cf. Veturliði Óskarsson, Middelnedertyske låneord, 44 n. 30.
23 Westergård-nielsen, Låneordene, 329; Hødnebø, Ordbog, 352; Sigfús Blöndal, Islandsk-
Dansk Ordbog, 810; Veturliði óskarsson, Middelnedertyske låneord, 324.
24 Westergård-nielsen, Låneordene, 347; Sigfús Blöndal, Islandsk-Dansk Ordbog, 865; Vet ur liði
óskarsson, Middelnedertyske låneord, 176–77; oskar Bandle, Die Sprache der Guðbrandsbiblía,
Bibliotheca arnamagnæana 17 (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1956), 429.
FRAGMENTS OF AN ICELANDIC CHRISTMAS SERMON