Note to GunnLeif Merl I 73^VIII

[7-8]: The word order here is rather convoluted by Gunnlaugr’s standards, with the interweaving of the adj. œgr ‘awe-inspiring’, part of the noun phrase, with adverbial phrases attaching to the verb phrase. The syntax is not altogether resolved. It would seem, however, that the prep. á ‘on’ governs Ispáníam ‘Spain’ (a Latin first declension acc. sg., to be scanned as four syllables (contrast Bret 1848‑9). This leaves it ýtra fulfilling an adverbial function, lit. ‘on the outer side’, or ‘on the farther side’, as seen from a British or Scandinavian perspective: to judge from the mention of Arabs and Africans in ll. 1 and 4 respectively, the southern side is intended. Comparable are the following passages: Þjsk Jarl 1/1^I and Ív Sig 32/3^II (see Notes there). Also probably to be thus construed is Mark Eirdr 22/6^II (though see Note there and LP: ýtri). Translations in other eds obscure the syntax, apparently ignoring the f. gender of Ispáníam: Bret 1848-9 has til det fjerne Hispania ‘to distant Spain’, Skj B til det fjærnere Spanien ‘to the further [regions of?] Spain’, Merl 2012 zum äußeren Spanien ‘to outer Spain’. Also obscured in these eds is the fact that the antecedent of œgr ‘awe-inspiring’ is vísi ‘leader’, not fǫr ‘expedition’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
3. Bret 1848-9 = Jón Sigurðsson. 1848-9. ‘Trójumanna saga ok Breta sögur, efter Hauksbók, med dansk Oversættelse’. ÅNOH 1848, 3-215; 1849, 3-145.
4. Merl 2012 = Horst, Simone, ed. 2012. Merlínússpá. Merlins Prophezeiung. Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag.
5. Internal references
6. Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 18 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá II 18)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 152.
7. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Ívarr Ingimundarson, Sigurðarbálkr 32’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 520.
8. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 22’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 450-1.
9. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorleifr jarlsskáld Rauðfeldarson, Jarlsníð 1’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 372.