Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.2003, Blaðsíða 196
Mary Magdalen’s precious ointment
Kirsten Wolf
In the composite life of Saints Martha and Mary Magdalen, Mgrthu
saga ok Maiiu Magdalena (ed. Unger 1877: I, 513-553), Mary Mag-
dalen, the holy woman who ministered to Christ and His disciples dur-
ing His public ministry (Lk 8:2-3) and who, according to Jn 20:1-2, 11-
18 (see also Mk 16:9-11), was the first person to see the empty tomb
and the resurrected Christ, is identified not only with the repentant
woman, who anointed Christ’s feet in the house of Simon (Mt 26:7, Mk
14:3, Lk 7:36-50), but also with Mary of Bethany, who, with her sister
Martha, welcomed Christ to their home at Bethany (Lk 10:38-42), and
who, with Martha and their brother Lazarus, remained His close friends
(Jn 11, 12:1-11).
In the episode conceming the anointing of Christ, which is here at-
tributed to Mary Magdalen, a detailed description is given of the oint-
ment. In AM 233a fol. (ca. 1350-ca. 1375), the manuscript on which
Unger based his text, the account is as follows:
Maria systir hans tok smyrslaker, gert af peim steini er alabastris heitir, ok
vel varSveitir ospellut smyrsl; petta smyrslaker var fult af nardo. Nardus er
eitt tre med pykkum rotum, lågt at uppvexti, svart at lit ok breyskligt. Ofan-
vert treit ferr dreift, ok er fræit vaxit sem aux. Smyrslagiordarmenn tempra
smyrsl af spizum ok dxum ok sva af flurum tres pessa, ok ero af spizunum
dyrst smyrslin, en ønnur ero lagh ok litiis verd. Pvi segir annarr gupspialla-
ma5r petta smyrsl verit hafa af spizum gort, en annarr kallar nardum pi-
sticum, pat er oblandat med oSrum smyrslum eda ufalsadr. Sumir segia, at
pisticus taki nafn af stad peim, er nardus vex eda geriz; smyrslit var libra at
mali eda punga. Hun braut pa, pat er at skilia, at hun upp lauk fyrr nefnt ker
ok steypti yfir høfud Jesu, ok sva smurbi hun fætr hans, en perøi med hari
sinu, ok ilmadi smyrslid um alt husit. (525.12-26)
The text in AM 235 fol. (ca. 1400) is virtually identical to that of AM
233a fol.; however, to the information that the nard is a delicate tree it is