Note to GunnLeif Merl I 52^VIII

[7] vargar léons ‘the lion’s wolves’: Emended from ms. ‘leó vargar’ (not refreshed) in the present edn. This yields a free-standing noun with initial v-, needed to carry alliteration with verða in l. 8. Presupposed is Gunnlaugr’s use of a double form of the gen. case of léo, i.e. léons beside léonis. For the form cf. GSvert Hrafndr 4/7^IV, ljóns ‘of the lion’. The nom. pl. hvelpar ‘cubs’, rendering Geoffrey’s catuli, is construed as standing in apposition to vargar. The solutions adopted by previous eds do not reckon with the deficiency in alliteration. Bret has léo-vargar ‘Lövevargens’ (‘of the lion-wolf’), evidently interpreted as a sg., governing hvassir hvelpar, thus ‘the keen cubs of the lion-wolf’, an analysis also adopted by Merl 2012 (independently?), while Skj B (followed by Skald) emends to léo-varga ‘of the lion-wolves’. Use of the potentially pejorative word vargr ‘wolf, outcast’ in relation to the children of Henry I may be explained as reflecting the censorious attitude to them displayed by the chroniclers (on which see Note to [All]). For attestations of the latter meaning in skaldic poetry cf. Mark Eirdr 6/1^II, ÞSjár Þórdr 2/1^I, Eskál Vell 7/6^I. The handling of vowel quantities in the borrowed word léó is uncertain. LP has léó, perhaps reflecting the fact that a long first vowel is metrically required in II 57/7. But contrast Skj B, CVC, Fritzner: leó, while Skald has léo-. The second vowel appears to be short in Anon Pl 23/2^VII and Svtjúg Lv 1/8^I. Perhaps this foreign word could be flexibly treated to achieve correct metre, or alternatively the present attestation could represent an anticipation of ModIcel. monosyllabic ljón (for possible parallel instances see ONP: ljón sb. m., ljón sb. n.). The vowel quantities in Latin and Greek are short followed by long (Lewis and Short 1879: leō; Liddell and Scott 1940: λέων).

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. 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.
5. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
6. 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.
7. ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.
8. Merl 2012 = Horst, Simone, ed. 2012. Merlínússpá. Merlins Prophezeiung. Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag.
9. Internal references
10. 2017, ‘ Unattributed, Breta saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 38. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=125> (accessed 26 April 2024)
11. Jonna Louis-Jensen and Tarrin Wills (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Plácitusdrápa 23’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 196.
12. Not published: do not cite (GSvert Hrafndr^IV)
13. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Sveinn tjúguskegg Haraldsson, Lausavísa 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. 379.
14. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 7’ 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. 291.
15. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 6’ 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. 438-9.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórðr Særeksson (Sjáreksson), Þórálfs drápa Skólmssonar 2’ 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. 238.