Note to GunnLeif Merl II 67^VIII

[3]: The interpretation of this line is not definitively resolved. While collocation of the verb efla in the sense of ‘support, strengthen’ with expressions for ‘God’ and ‘Christ’ is well attested (ONP: efla A1, cf. D5), the form eflð remains obscure. (a) No noun eflð is attested in CVC, Fritzner or ONP and it may represent a neologism designed to meet the demands of the kviðuháttr verse-form. (b) An alternative but less likely explanation is as an otherwise unattested noun derived from efla ‘strengthen’, with the -ð suffix seen also in efnð ‘fulfilment’ (< efna) and hefnð ’revenge’ (< hefna) and parallel to Goth. -ōþu, OHG -ōd. In contrast to Old Norse, where such nouns have acquired f. gender, they remain m. in Gothic and Old High German (Wright 1954, 174). The m. form of the adj. œztan ‘highest’ in Hb might represent a retention of the older gender but is more probably a rationalisation to reflect the conventionally m. gender of guð ‘god’ (originally a neuter). On this basis the ms. reading is tentatively retained here, but emendation to œzta ‘highest’, the f. form of the adj., agreeing with the presumed f. gender of eflð, as advocated by Kock (NN §2567B; Skald), and followed by Merl 2012, is an attractive option. In other respects the interpretation adopted in this edn is that of Kock (NN §2567B; Skald), who, followed by Merl 2012, interprets ll. 3 and 4 together: æzta [sic] eflð, | ǫllu hjarta, translating as människors furste, den högsta styrkan ‘the lord of men, the greatest support’. The line has a possible source in Lat. summa potentia, part of the chant O summa potentia o summa bonitas et laude digna Maria mitis et benigna ‘Oh highest power, oh highest goodness and merciful and beneficent Mary, worthy of praise’ (Sankt Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, 388, f. 471, sequence 2 (Can 204367i in Lacoste and Koláček [n. d.], accessed 11 July 2015). By contrast, Bret 1848-9, followed by Skj B, appears to construe eflð as a noun in the dat. sg., translating den ypperste om kraft ‘the highest in power’ and ypperste i kraft ‘highest in power’ respectively; LP: eflð treats the ms. reading as corrupt but tentatively proposes ypperst ved sin hjælpende kraft ‘highest in his supporting power’.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
7. 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.
8. ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.
9. Bret 1848-9 = Jón Sigurðsson. 1848-9. ‘Trójumanna saga ok Breta sögur, efter Hauksbók, med dansk Oversættelse’. ÅNOH 1848, 3-215; 1849, 3-145.
10. Merl 2012 = Horst, Simone, ed. 2012. Merlínússpá. Merlins Prophezeiung. Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag.
11. Wright, Joseph. 1954. Grammar of the Gothic Language. 2nd edn rev. O. L. Sayce. Oxford: Clarendon.