GunnLeif Merl II 20VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 20 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá II 20)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 153.
text and translation
‘Þat Lundúnum líkar illa;
eykr hon þrimr hlutum þykka veggi.
Kostar hon keppa við konungíðnir;
ferr suðr of fjall frægð af smíði,
en* Tems of borg tekr at geisa.
‘Þat líkar Lundúnum illa; hon eykr þykka veggi þrimr hlutum. Hon kostar keppa við konungíðnir; frægð af smíði ferr suðr of fjall, en* Tems tekr at geisa of borg.
‘‘That will displease London; she will increase her thick walls threefold. She will attempt to compete with the king’s exploits; news of the work will travel south over the mountain and the Thames will start to surge around the city. ’
notes and context
Cf. DGB 116 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 153.174-6; cf. Wright 1988, 109, prophecy 37): Inuidebit ergo Lundonia et muros suos tripliciter augebit. Circuibit eam undique Tamensis fluuius, et rumor operis transcendet Alpes ‘London will be filled with envy and will increase its walls threefold. The Thames will encircle the city, and fame of this feat will travel beyond the Alps’ (cf. Reeve and Wright 2007, 152). London and Winchester were increasingly in competition in Geoffrey’s time as royal and administrative centres. — [5-6]: This idea is made more explicit than in DGB, as would have been necessary if st. 21 had originally preceded st. 20 (see Note to II 19 [All]).
readings
- [5] keppa: keppir Hb
- [7] ferr: ‘mer’ apparently corrected from ‘ferr’(?) during the process of refreshing Hb
- [9] en* Tems: ‘eyr teins’ Hb
sources
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
-
AM 544 4° (Hb) — 49v/13 - 49v/15
images‘Þat Lundúnum
líkar illa;
eykr hon þrimr hlutum
þykka veggi.
Kostar hon keppir
við konungíðnir;
†mer† suðr of fjall
frægð af smíði,
†eyr teins† of borg
tekr at geisa.Ðat lvndvnvm | likar illa eykr hon . ííj. lvtvm þycka veɢi kostar hon keppiz við konvngiðnir | mer svðr vm fiall frægð af smiði eyr teins ok borg tekr at geisa |
(VEÞ)
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