GunnLeif Merl I 43VIII/1 — mun* ‘will’
‘Vera mun* ára í aga miklum
fimtán tigi foldar belti.
En tírœð tíri gǫfgaðr
hundruð þrjú hann mun sitja
Lundúnum at ok lýða fjǫlð.
‘Belti foldar mun* vera í miklum aga fimtán tigi ára. En hann mun sitja at Lundúnum þrjú hundruð tírœð gǫfgaðr tíri, ok fjǫlð lýða.
‘The belt of the earth [SNAKE] will be in great strife for fifteen decades. But for three hundred years, counted decimally, he will reign in London, endued with glory, and a multitude of people [with him].
readings
[1] mun*: munu Hb
notes
[1] mun* ‘will’: Emended in this edn from Hb munu. Also emended to mun in Skj B (followed by Skald), but perhaps tentatively, since the translation in Skj B (albeit rather loose) presupposes retention of a pl. verb to match the pl. subject ‘snakes’: vil der være stor strid mellem ormene ‘there will be great strife between the snakes’. Kock does not comment on the matter. Bret 1848-9 had retained munu with a similar translation and it is retained without comment in Hb 1892-6. Merl 2012 would also retain, noting that belti ‘belt’, as a n. noun, could be either sg. or pl. But a pl. in l. 1 followed by sg. hann in l. 8 would be odd and the evidence of DGB speaks against it.
grammar
Verbs: Preterite-present verbs
The present tense of these verbs is like the past tense of strong verbs, and their past tense is weak.
| eiga | mega | kunna | skulu | munu | muna | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indic. pres. | sing. pl. | 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd | á átt á eigum eiguð eigu | má mátt má megum meguð megu | kann kannt kann kunnum kunnuð kunnu | skal skalt skal skulum skuluð skulu | mun munt mun munum munuð munu | man mant man munum munið muna |
| indic. past stem subj. pres. stem subj. past stem | átt- eig- ætt- | mátt- meg- mætt- | kunn- kunn- kynn- | skyld- skyl- skyld- | mund- myn- mynd- | mund- mun- mynd- | ||