GunnLeif Merl II 10VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 10 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá II 10)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 143.
Tekr ‘will start’
(not checked:)
2. taka (verb): take
hon ‘She’
(not checked:)
hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
at ‘to’
(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
reyna ‘test’
(not checked:)
reyna (verb): test, try, experience
notes
[1] reyna ‘to test’: This reading and gloss are accepted by all eds but LP: reyna 3 glosses as tyde ‘interpret’ (contrast Skj B’s prøve ‘test’) and suggests that the reading may have arisen in error for rýna ‘enquire (into), investigate’. But emendation (or re-interpretation of the ms. reading) is not called for, inasmuch as in ll. 1-2 Gunnlaugr appears to amplify the idea in DGB that the woman is trying all her arts, i.e. those of healing, as requested by the inhabitants of Winchester, rather than enquiring into the causes of the crisis.
ok ‘and’
(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
at ‘’
(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
ráða ‘devise’
(not checked:)
ráða (verb): advise, rule, interpret, decide
fjǫlð ‘a great many’
(not checked:)
fjǫlð (noun f.): multitude
tekr ‘will start’
(not checked:)
2. taka (verb): take
hon ‘she’
(not checked:)
hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
notes
[3] hon ‘she’: Omitted in Skald.
íþróttir ‘her arts’
(not checked:)
íþrótt (noun f.): skill, accomplishment
notes
[3] íþróttir ‘arts’: The word is used here, as repeatedly in HsvVII, to mean not ‘feats’ or ‘accomplishments’, in the sense of something to be exhibited, as in older skaldic poetry, but rather ‘useful skills’.
allar ‘all’
(not checked:)
allr (adj.): all
fremja ‘practising’
(not checked:)
fremja (verb): advance, perform
Andar ‘will breathe’
(not checked:)
anda (verb; °-að-): breathe, live; (past part.) die
síðan ‘Then’
(not checked:)
síðan (adv.): later, then
snót ‘the woman’
(not checked:)
snót (noun f.; °; -ir): woman
á ‘on’
(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at
brunna ‘the springs’
(not checked:)
brunnr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): spring, well
notes
[7] ok brúðr … þurra ‘and the lady … dry’: Emended in this edn from ms. ‘ok hon brvðþurra’ (not refreshed). This emendation assumes two heiti for ‘woman’, snót in l. 6 and brúðr in l. 7, referring to the same person in coordinate clauses, rather than the f. pron. hon ‘she’ at the second mention. However, departures from expected (prose) usage on this point are paralleled in skaldic poetry including Gunnlaugr’s own: cf. the coordinate clauses in II 11/1-4, where hon ‘she’ is used in the first clause and brúðar ‘the woman’s’ in the second, and in II 11/5-8, where hon and kona ‘the woman’ are seemingly in apposition, expressing the subject of the first clause, and man ‘the maiden’ in the second. For an alternation of the same heiti, brúðr and snót, see also Gríp 45 and 46. Omission of nom. -r, as apparently here, occurs sporadically in Hb (e.g. lávarð for lávarðr in II 57/8). Bret 1848-9 retains without emendation, translating ll. 7-8 as og dem begge brat udtörrer ‘and dries them both out instantly’, without explaining how bruð- would equate in sense or grammatical function to brat ‘instantly’. Other suggestions require the postulation of unattested idioms or lexical items: Skj B (followed by Skald) emends to ok hon brauðþurra ‘and she [makes them] dry as bread’, while Merl 2012 retains *bruðþurra, apparently interpreting as ‘so dry as to be hard to eat’, but aside from the implausibility of such a formation the logic is hard to follow, since there is no question of the springs serving as food.
brúðr ‘the lady’
(not checked:)
brúðr (noun f.; °brúðar, dat. & acc. brúði; brúðir): woman, bride
[7] ok brúðr þurra: ‘ok hon brúðþurra’ Hb
notes
[7] ok brúðr … þurra ‘and the lady … dry’: Emended in this edn from ms. ‘ok hon brvðþurra’ (not refreshed). This emendation assumes two heiti for ‘woman’, snót in l. 6 and brúðr in l. 7, referring to the same person in coordinate clauses, rather than the f. pron. hon ‘she’ at the second mention. However, departures from expected (prose) usage on this point are paralleled in skaldic poetry including Gunnlaugr’s own: cf. the coordinate clauses in II 11/1-4, where hon ‘she’ is used in the first clause and brúðar ‘the woman’s’ in the second, and in II 11/5-8, where hon and kona ‘the woman’ are seemingly in apposition, expressing the subject of the first clause, and man ‘the maiden’ in the second. For an alternation of the same heiti, brúðr and snót, see also Gríp 45 and 46. Omission of nom. -r, as apparently here, occurs sporadically in Hb (e.g. lávarð for lávarðr in II 57/8). Bret 1848-9 retains without emendation, translating ll. 7-8 as og dem begge brat udtörrer ‘and dries them both out instantly’, without explaining how bruð- would equate in sense or grammatical function to brat ‘instantly’. Other suggestions require the postulation of unattested idioms or lexical items: Skj B (followed by Skald) emends to ok hon brauðþurra ‘and she [makes them] dry as bread’, while Merl 2012 retains *bruðþurra, apparently interpreting as ‘so dry as to be hard to eat’, but aside from the implausibility of such a formation the logic is hard to follow, since there is no question of the springs serving as food.
notes
[7] ok brúðr … þurra ‘and the lady … dry’: Emended in this edn from ms. ‘ok hon brvðþurra’ (not refreshed). This emendation assumes two heiti for ‘woman’, snót in l. 6 and brúðr in l. 7, referring to the same person in coordinate clauses, rather than the f. pron. hon ‘she’ at the second mention. However, departures from expected (prose) usage on this point are paralleled in skaldic poetry including Gunnlaugr’s own: cf. the coordinate clauses in II 11/1-4, where hon ‘she’ is used in the first clause and brúðar ‘the woman’s’ in the second, and in II 11/5-8, where hon and kona ‘the woman’ are seemingly in apposition, expressing the subject of the first clause, and man ‘the maiden’ in the second. For an alternation of the same heiti, brúðr and snót, see also Gríp 45 and 46. Omission of nom. -r, as apparently here, occurs sporadically in Hb (e.g. lávarð for lávarðr in II 57/8). Bret 1848-9 retains without emendation, translating ll. 7-8 as og dem begge brat udtörrer ‘and dries them both out instantly’, without explaining how bruð- would equate in sense or grammatical function to brat ‘instantly’. Other suggestions require the postulation of unattested idioms or lexical items: Skj B (followed by Skald) emends to ok hon brauðþurra ‘and she [makes them] dry as bread’, while Merl 2012 retains *bruðþurra, apparently interpreting as ‘so dry as to be hard to eat’, but aside from the implausibility of such a formation the logic is hard to follow, since there is no question of the springs serving as food.
báða ‘them both’
(not checked:)
báðir (pron.; °gen. beggja (báðra), nom./acc. n. bǽði): both
gervir ‘will make’
(not checked:)
1. gera (verb): do, make
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Cf. DGB 116 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 151.156-7; cf. Wright 1988, 108, prophecy 32): Quae ut omnes artes inierit, solo anhelitu suo fontes nociuos siccabit ‘After she has tried all her arts, she will dry up the deadly springs with her breath alone’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 150).
Stanza/chapter/text segment
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
Information tab
- text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
- sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
- readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
- editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
- notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant
Interactive tab
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
Full text tab
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
Chapter/text segment
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.