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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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GunnLeif Merl II 26VIII

Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 26 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá II 26)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 159.

Gunnlaugr LeifssonMerlínusspá II
252627

En ‘But’

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2. en (conj.): but, and

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fogl ‘the bird’

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fugl (noun m.): bird

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ept ‘after’

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eptir (prep.): after, behind

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vestr ‘westwards’

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2. vestr (adv.): west, in the west

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í ‘into’

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í (prep.): in, into

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þanns ‘that’

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2. er (conj.): who, which, when

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Gálábes ‘Galabes’

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Galabes (noun ?)

notes

[3] Gálábes: This is the reading of some mss of Geoffrey, against majority Galahes (Wright 1988, 109, cf. 111), and therefore presumably stood in Gunnlaugr’s source.

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gumnar ‘people’

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gumi (noun m.; °-a; gumar/gumnar): man

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kalla ‘call’

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kalla (verb): call

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mun ‘will’

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munu (verb): will, must

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hefjask ‘raise’

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hefja (verb): lift, start

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í ‘itself’

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í (prep.): in, into

[6] í it: ‘[…]’ Hb, í it HbJS

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it ‘into’

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2. inn (art.): the

[6] í it: ‘[…]’ Hb, í it HbJS

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hæsta ‘the highest’

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hœgri (adj. comp.): higher, highest

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fjall ‘mountain’

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1. fjall (noun n.): mountain

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ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

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þar ‘there’

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þar (adv.): there

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uppi ‘up’

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uppi (adv.): up, up in

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í ‘on’

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í (prep.): in, into

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eikr ‘of an oak’

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eik (noun f.; °eikr/eikar; eikr): oak

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limum ‘the branches’

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limr (noun m.; °-ar/-s, dat. -i/-; -ir acc. limu/limi): [limb]

[8] limum: ‘‑limv’ Hb

notes

[8] limum ‘the branches’: Emended in this edn from ms. ‘limv’ (refreshed). Use of the pl. form is suggested by Geoffrey’s ramos ‘branches’. Skj B (followed by Skald) emends to limi ‘branch’, perhaps in view of actual nesting behaviour on the part of herons, but LP: eikrlim notes limum as a possible alternative. Bret 1848-9 retains limu, apparently as an acc. pl., translating as kviste ‘branches’, but dat. would be required syntactically, since the context requires a point of rest, not motion towards. Merl 2012 would also retain, interpreting limu ‘branch’ as sg. for pl.; this dat. sg. form is however not attested.

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hreiðrask ‘will nest’

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hreiðra (verb)

[9] hreiðrask: ‘treiðr[…]’ Hb

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[9] hreiðrask ‘will nest’: Emended in Skj B (followed by Skald and Merl 2012) from ms. ‘treiðr[...]’ (partially refreshed); cf. hreiðri ‘nest’ in II 27/2. Bret 1848-9 takes the ms. reading to be ‘treiðr’ and explains as a form of treðr ‘treads’, the 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of treðja ‘tread’.

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hegri ‘the heron’

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hegri (noun m.)

[9] hegri: ‘[…]’ Hb, hegri HbJS

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es ‘is’

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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

[10] es: ‘a’ Hb

notes

[10] es ‘is’: Emended from ms. ‘a’ (refreshed) in Bret 1848-9, followed by subsequent eds.

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fogla ‘of birds’

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fugl (noun m.): bird

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verstr ‘the worst’

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verstr

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Cf. DGB 116 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 153.185-3; cf. Wright 1988, 109, prophecy 40): At cum calamitas tanta cessauerit, adibit detestabilis ales uallem Galahes atque eam in excelsum montem leuabit. In cacumine quoque ipsius plantabit quercum atque infra ramos nidificabit ‘When this great calamity is over, the accursed bird will visit the valley of Galahes and raise it into a lofty mountain. At the summit the heron will plant an oak and nest in its branches’ (cf. Reeve and Wright 2007, 152). In Merl the heron is not credited with planting the oak, merely with nesting in it. — [6, 9]: See Introduction for readings no longer visible in Hb that could be read by earlier eds.

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