[2] nema mest hamlan bresti ‘unless the greatest obstacle fails’: Mest ‘greatest’ here is taken as strong f. nom. adj. with hamlan ‘the obstacle’ (so SnE 1848-87, TGT 1884 and Skj B). The meaning is unclear and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) puts an elipsis between mest hamlan and bresti. Later (TGT 1927, 96-7) he takes mest as an adv. belonging to the first clause, which leads to the following interpretation: Hefk heitit mest mætri mey því, nema hamlan bresti ‘I have mostly promised the excellent maiden that, unless the obstacle fails’.
References
- Bibliography
- TGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
- TGT 1927 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1927b. Óláfr Þórðarson: Málhljóða- og málskrúðsrit. Grammatisk-retorisk afhandling. Det kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Historisk-filologiske meddelelser 13, 2. Copenhagen: Høst.