Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1968, Síða 90
25TH DEC. IN NATIVITATE DOMINI
ElA RECOLAMUS
MSS: B. Facs. 42-43; two fragments: the first ends with v. 4b (7)
abducta, the second begins with 7a (12) [assujmens and ends with
10a (18) uera. — C. Fac. 52, 1.1 — fac. 53, 1. 4; four fragments:
the first begins with 5a (8) angelorum and ends with 7a (12) natu[ra],
the second begins with 7b (13) and is continued by the third which
ends with 10a (18) vera, the fourth has only the concluding words 11
(20) låns est eterna (of the music, only the two last notes, e and d,
remain). — h. Fac. 205, 1. 10 — fac. 206, 1. 3.
Text printed in AH 53, No. 16.
Textual differences from AH in B: 2a (2) carmina] gaudia (also
in Missale Nidrosiense, where the words of the sequence are printed,
and several MSS.), 2a (2) nobis lux] noua nobis lux (two French
MSS., quoted in AH, have nova lux; in B two forms are combined,
which spoiled the metre, and in the music it was necessary to add a
couple of notes that do not belong to the parallel verse line), 3 a (4)
maris Stella est enixa] est enixa maris Stella (found in one English
MS.), 9a (16) Prostratus] Sublatus (found in the same English MS.
and others); — in C: 5b (9) drachma] dragma, 7b (13) divinitas]
diuinitus (found in one French MS.); — in h: 5b (9) drachma] dragma,
5b (9) et est] est et, 8b (15) galeam certat] galea certe.
This sequence has been one of the most popular ones, and may
be regarded as international. It is found in a vast number of MSS.,
mostly German, and has been embodied in the Danish, Swedish,
Finnish, and Icelandic liturgy. It is probably of German origin; it
appears in German MSS. as early as in the lOth century, but is
shortly afterwards also to be found in French ones. England, on the
other hånd, does not seem to have adopted the sequence until some-
what later.
Attention may be drawn to the faet that v. 6a contains a syllable
— and a note — more than 6b: “qua redempta est” against “nasci-
tur ex”. The Pantaleon sequence “Celsa lux Syon”, which employs
the same metre and melody as this one, does not contain this surplus
syllable and note, and this shows that the author intended an elision.
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