GunnLeif Merl II 25VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 25 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá II 25)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 158.
text and translation
‘Flykkjask foglar; fara þeir í sæði;
eyða þeir ǫkrum ok aldini.
Sultr verðr ok sótt — sék mart fyrir —
manndauðr mikill; mein gengr of þjóð.
‘Foglar flykkjask; þeir fara í sæði; þeir eyða ǫkrum ok aldini. Sultr verðr, ok sótt, manndauðr mikill; sék mart fyrir; mein gengr of þjóð.
‘‘The birds will flock together; they will go into the crops; they will devastate the fields and fruit. Famine will develop, also sickness, great mortality of men; I see many things to come; harm will afflict the people. ’
notes and context
Cf. DGB 116 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 153.183-5; cf. Wright 1988, 109, prophecies 39 and 40): In culturas mortalium irruent et omnia grana messium deuorabunt. Sequetur fames populum atque dira mortalitas famem ‘They will fall upon men’s crops and eat all the grains of corn. The people will be afflicted by hunger and after that by a deadly plague’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 152). For grana ‘grains’ a variant reading is genera ‘kinds’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 153, Wright 1988, 109) and the expansion of the Latin seen in Merl could be interpreted as an attempt to incorporate the sense of both readings by mentioning the different types of produce. Ms. D of the First Variant Version has genera in the main text and grana noted in the margin as a variant (Wright 1988, 109), and Gunnlaugr’s source ms. may have been similar in this respect. — [5]: This edn follows Kock (FF §63) in its analysis of the components of the subject; Skj B, apparently followed by Merl 2012, takes manndauðr as the subject of gengr, with mein in apposition, but that, as Kock notes, is less consonant with poetic style.
sources
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
-
AM 544 4° (Hb) — 49v/22 - 49v/24
imagesFlyckiaz fvglar fara þeir | i sæði eyða þeir ockrvm ok alldini svlltr verðr ok sott se ek mart fyrir man | davða mikill mein gengr vm þioðir .
(VEÞ)
editions and texts
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.