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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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GunnLeif Merl II 34^VIII

Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 34 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá II 34)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 164.

Gunnlaugr Leifsson Merlínusspá II

Dregr ‘is blowing’

(not checked:)
2. draga (verb; °dregr; dró, drógu; dreginn/droget(Hirð NKS 1642 4° 146v²⁹; cf. [$962$])): drag, pull, draw

él ‘A blizzard’

(not checked:)
él (noun n.; °; dat. -um): storm

kennings

‘Él ljóma ógnar
‘‘A blizzard of the light of terror ’
= BATTLE
the light of terror → SWORD
‘A blizzard of the SWORD → BATTLE

yfir ‘’

(not checked:)
yfir (prep.): over

ógnar ‘of terror’

(not checked:)
ógn (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): terror, battle

kennings

‘Él ljóma ógnar
‘‘A blizzard of the light of terror ’
= BATTLE
the light of terror → SWORD
‘A blizzard of the SWORD → BATTLE

notes

[2] ógnar ljóma ‘of the light of terror [SWORD]’: De Vries (1964-7, II, 75 n. 180) compares HHund I 21/6.

ógnar ‘of terror’

(not checked:)
ógn (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): terror, battle

kennings

‘Él ljóma ógnar
‘‘A blizzard of the light of terror ’
= BATTLE
the light of terror → SWORD
‘A blizzard of the SWORD → BATTLE

notes

[2] ógnar ljóma ‘of the light of terror [SWORD]’: De Vries (1964-7, II, 75 n. 180) compares HHund I 21/6.

ljóma ‘of the light’

(not checked:)
ljómi (noun m.; °-a): light, beam

kennings

‘Él ljóma ógnar
‘‘A blizzard of the light of terror ’
= BATTLE
the light of terror → SWORD
‘A blizzard of the SWORD → BATTLE

notes

[2] ógnar ljóma ‘of the light of terror [SWORD]’: De Vries (1964-7, II, 75 n. 180) compares HHund I 21/6.

ljóma ‘of the light’

(not checked:)
ljómi (noun m.; °-a): light, beam

kennings

‘Él ljóma ógnar
‘‘A blizzard of the light of terror ’
= BATTLE
the light of terror → SWORD
‘A blizzard of the SWORD → BATTLE

notes

[2] ógnar ljóma ‘of the light of terror [SWORD]’: De Vries (1964-7, II, 75 n. 180) compares HHund I 21/6.

gerir ‘it causes’

(not checked:)
1. gera (verb): do, make

drjúgan ‘a mighty’

(not checked:)
drjúgr (adj.; °compar. -ari (drýgari [$1033$] ms. 56v, superl. -astr): very, excessive

notes

[3-4] drjúgan dyn dýrra malma ‘a mighty din of precious weapons’: This phrase could be construed as a battle-kenning but is here taken as a literal description of the noise of battle, dependent on the metaphorical battle-kenning él ljóma ógnar ‘a blizzard of the light of terror [SWORD > BATTLE]’ (ll. 1-2), in which the base-word él ‘blizzard’ is said to blow and cause the din of weapons.

dyn ‘din’

(not checked:)
dynr (noun m.; °dat. -; -ir): din

notes

[3-4] drjúgan dyn dýrra malma ‘a mighty din of precious weapons’: This phrase could be construed as a battle-kenning but is here taken as a literal description of the noise of battle, dependent on the metaphorical battle-kenning él ljóma ógnar ‘a blizzard of the light of terror [SWORD > BATTLE]’ (ll. 1-2), in which the base-word él ‘blizzard’ is said to blow and cause the din of weapons.

dýrra ‘of precious’

(not checked:)
dýrr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -str/-astr): precious

notes

[3-4] drjúgan dyn dýrra malma ‘a mighty din of precious weapons’: This phrase could be construed as a battle-kenning but is here taken as a literal description of the noise of battle, dependent on the metaphorical battle-kenning él ljóma ógnar ‘a blizzard of the light of terror [SWORD > BATTLE]’ (ll. 1-2), in which the base-word él ‘blizzard’ is said to blow and cause the din of weapons.

malma ‘weapons’

(not checked:)
malmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): metal

notes

[3-4] drjúgan dyn dýrra malma ‘a mighty din of precious weapons’: This phrase could be construed as a battle-kenning but is here taken as a literal description of the noise of battle, dependent on the metaphorical battle-kenning él ljóma ógnar ‘a blizzard of the light of terror [SWORD > BATTLE]’ (ll. 1-2), in which the base-word él ‘blizzard’ is said to blow and cause the din of weapons.

Gnýr ‘a clashing’

(not checked:)
gnýr (noun m.): din, tumult

es ‘There is’

(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

á ‘on’

(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at

glæstum ‘the shining’

(not checked:)
glæstr (adj./verb p.p.): adorned, shining, splendid

kennings

glæstum himni Gǫndlar
‘the shining heaven of Gǫndul ’
= SHIELD
the shining heaven of Gǫndul → SHIELD

Gǫndlar ‘of Gǫndul’

(not checked:)
2. Gǫndul (noun f.): Gǫndul

kennings

glæstum himni Gǫndlar
‘the shining heaven of Gǫndul ’
= SHIELD
the shining heaven of Gǫndul → SHIELD

himni ‘heaven’

(not checked:)
himinn (noun m.; °himins, dat. himni; himnar): heaven, sky

kennings

glæstum himni Gǫndlar
‘the shining heaven of Gǫndul ’
= SHIELD
the shining heaven of Gǫndul → SHIELD

ok ‘and’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

í ‘against’

(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into

hǫrðum ‘the tough’

(not checked:)
harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh

kennings

hǫrðum tjǫldum Hlakkar.
‘the tough awnings of Hlǫkk. ’
= SHIELDS
the tough awnings of Hlǫkk. → SHIELDS

hlam ‘a thudding’

(not checked:)
hlǫm (noun f.)

Hlakkar ‘of Hlǫkk’

(not checked:)
2. Hlǫkk (noun f.): Hlǫkk

kennings

hǫrðum tjǫldum Hlakkar.
‘the tough awnings of Hlǫkk. ’
= SHIELDS
the tough awnings of Hlǫkk. → SHIELDS

tjǫldum ‘awnings’

(not checked:)
tjald (noun n.; °-s; *-): tent, awning

kennings

hǫrðum tjǫldum Hlakkar.
‘the tough awnings of Hlǫkk. ’
= SHIELDS
the tough awnings of Hlǫkk. → SHIELDS

Erut ‘are not’

(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

[9] Erut: erat Hb

notes

[9] erut ‘are not’: Emended by Kock (NN §2567A; Skald; cf. NN §2741), followed by Merl 2012, from ms. erað (refreshed) to agree with pl. kápur. See Note to II 28/3.

skjólsamar ‘protective’

(not checked:)
skjólsamr (adj.)

Skǫglar ‘of Skǫgul’

(not checked:)
Skǫgul (noun f.): Skǫgul

kennings

Kápur Skǫglar
‘The capes of Skǫgul ’
= MAIL-SHIRTS
The capes of Skǫgul → MAIL-SHIRTS

kápur ‘The capes’

(not checked:)
kápa (noun f.; °-u; -ur): [capes]

kennings

Kápur Skǫglar
‘The capes of Skǫgul ’
= MAIL-SHIRTS
The capes of Skǫgul → MAIL-SHIRTS

notes

[10] kápur ‘capes’: This noun appears rarely in skaldic poetry, but note the similar mail-shirt-kenning kápa Sköglar ‘the cloak of Skǫgul <valkyrie>’ in Anon Krm 18/9.

hrýtr ‘pierces’

(not checked:)
1. hrjóta (verb): fling, fly

hagl ‘the hail’

(not checked:)
hagl (noun n.; °-s; dat. *-um): hail

kennings

hagl boga
‘the hail of bows ’
= ARROWS
the hail of bows → ARROWS

boga ‘of bows’

(not checked:)
bogi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): bow

kennings

hagl boga
‘the hail of bows ’
= ARROWS
the hail of bows → ARROWS

hlíf ‘armour’

[12] hlíf í: ‘hlift’ refreshed from ‘hlif i’ Hb

notes

[12] hlíf í gegnum ‘through armour’: The original reading of Hb, apparently hlíf í, is here assumed to be correct, following Merl 2012. The use of the sg. noun to denote armour in general is similar to sg. himni in the shield-kenning in l. 6. Previous eds, following Bret 1848-9, unnecessarily generate a pl. noun by emending to hlífar ‘armour’ (lit. ‘items of armour’), where hlífar would be acc. pl. The emendation of ms. ‘gegnari’ to gegnum was made by Bret 1848-9 and has been adopted by all subsequent eds.

í ‘’

[12] hlíf í: ‘hlift’ refreshed from ‘hlif i’ Hb

notes

[12] hlíf í gegnum ‘through armour’: The original reading of Hb, apparently hlíf í, is here assumed to be correct, following Merl 2012. The use of the sg. noun to denote armour in general is similar to sg. himni in the shield-kenning in l. 6. Previous eds, following Bret 1848-9, unnecessarily generate a pl. noun by emending to hlífar ‘armour’ (lit. ‘items of armour’), where hlífar would be acc. pl. The emendation of ms. ‘gegnari’ to gegnum was made by Bret 1848-9 and has been adopted by all subsequent eds.

gegnum ‘through’

(not checked:)
gegnum (prep.): through

[12] gegnum: ‘gegnari’ Hb

notes

[12] hlíf í gegnum ‘through armour’: The original reading of Hb, apparently hlíf í, is here assumed to be correct, following Merl 2012. The use of the sg. noun to denote armour in general is similar to sg. himni in the shield-kenning in l. 6. Previous eds, following Bret 1848-9, unnecessarily generate a pl. noun by emending to hlífar ‘armour’ (lit. ‘items of armour’), where hlífar would be acc. pl. The emendation of ms. ‘gegnari’ to gegnum was made by Bret 1848-9 and has been adopted by all subsequent eds.

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verse
prose

See Note to II 31 [All].

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