Echoes of Eden's End
Adams óður as a Poetic Hymn and Its Source in Konungs skuggsjá
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33112/Keywords:
biblical studies, Icelandic poetry, the Fall of Man, hymns, demonology, Apocrypha, biblíufræði, íslenskur kveðskapur, fall mannsins, sálmar, djöflafræði, apókrýfar bókmenntirAbstract
This article provides an edition of the previously unedited medieval poem Adams óður and demonstrates that it is a poetic rendition of the Christian story of the Fall of Man found in the thirteenth-century prose text Konungs skuggsjá. In addition to tracing the poem’s source, I show that the poem was sung as a hymn. Adams óður is an anonymous poem that retells what happened in the Garden of Eden that led to Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Paradise. Several prominent themes that are shared between Konungs skuggsjá and Adams óður are examined in the article, including the serpent who bites the apple first; the talking serpent; Lucifer, Satan, and andinn as names for the Devil; Lucifer’s jealousy; and the idea that humans were created to replace fallen angels. Appendix I provides a comparison between the poem and prose, and Appendix II provides an edition of Adams óður based on three parchment manuscripts and one early printed source.
