Note to GunnLeif Merl I 80^VIII

[2] kappgóðr ‘exceedingly good’: A hap. leg., which, in the absence of any counterpart in the Latin, resists definitive interpretation. Difficulty is caused by the variety in uses of kapp- in the other compounds where this is the initial element, along with the fact that some of them are also hap. leg. The interpretation tentatively adopted in this edn is due to Bret 1848-9 and Skj B, which take kapp- as an intensifier, thus ‘very good’, but varies on it by introducing the concept of ‘exceeding’ or ‘outdoing’ inherent in the sense of kapp ‘contest, ardour’ (see CVC, Fritzner, ONP: kapp). Against this, NN §3258D, followed by Merl 2012, proposes the interpretation ‘able in competition’. Gunnlaugr goes beyond DGB so as to introduce the word kapp, either as simplex or compounded, in three other instances: I 41/2 hvítdreki kapps ‘the white serpent of belligerence’, I 92/1 mǫnnum kapps ‘to men of bravery’ and II 9/3-4 í kappsauðga borg ‘in the exceedingly prosperous city’. They demonstrate that he was capable of using the word in both the key meanings in contention here. Kock is only able to discount the latter meaning by basing himself on a highly select subset of kapp- compounds that exhibit the former meaning; Merl 2012 does not elaborate on this aspect. Also, in context the characterisation of the boar-king as ‘able in competition’ would seem to have little relevance, whereas his being described as ‘exceedingly good’ can be taken as borne out by the restoration of his people to their former fortunes; in effect, he will be a ‘good king’ memorable as outdoing other kings in terms of ‘goodness’, a decided contrast to the bad leadership described in the preceding stanzas and also a polar opposite of a subsequent ruler, the asni illingar ‘ass of evil’ (I 87/1-2). The specific aspects of his goodness are further spelt out in the following stanzas.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
5. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
6. ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.
7. Bret 1848-9 = Jón Sigurðsson. 1848-9. ‘Trójumanna saga ok Breta sögur, efter Hauksbók, med dansk Oversættelse’. ÅNOH 1848, 3-215; 1849, 3-145.
8. Merl 2012 = Horst, Simone, ed. 2012. Merlínússpá. Merlins Prophezeiung. Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag.