GunnLeif Merl I 13VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 81 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 13)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 57.
Lát ‘Have’
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
grund ‘the earth’
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grund (noun f.): earth, land
grafa ‘dug’
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grafa (verb): to dig, earth, bury
gera ‘form’
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1. gera (verb): do, make
skorninga ‘channels’
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skorningr (noun m.): °klæde, dug
sagði ‘said’
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segja (verb): say, tell
Merlínus ‘Merlin’
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Merlínus (noun m.)
menja ‘of neck-rings’
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2. men (noun n.; °; dat. menjum): neck-ring
kennings
deili menja.‘to the sharer of neck-rings. ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Vortigern
to the sharer of neck-rings. → GENEROUS MAN = Vortigern
deili ‘to the sharer’
(not checked:)
deilir (noun m.): ruler, ordainer
kennings
deili menja.‘to the sharer of neck-rings. ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Vortigern
to the sharer of neck-rings. → GENEROUS MAN = Vortigern
Veitið ‘Drain’
(not checked:)
2. veita (verb): grant, give
notes
[5-6] veitið … vitið ‘drain … find out’: As noted by Merl 2012, this is 2nd pers. pl., contrasting with the sg. lát ‘let’ used in l.1. The interpretation of Merl 2012 is that Merlin turns from addressing Vortigernus to addressing his workmen. More likely, however, is that implicitly Vortigernus is the speaker of ll. 5-10, as indicated by the following sentence in DGB (see I 14, Note to [All]).
vatni ‘the lake’
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vatn (noun n.; °-s; -*): water, lake
notes
[5-10]: Complex word order occurs intermittently in Merl. See for example I 54/9-12 and I 63/5‑8.
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
vitið ‘find out’
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1. vita (verb): know
notes
[5-6] veitið … vitið ‘drain … find out’: As noted by Merl 2012, this is 2nd pers. pl., contrasting with the sg. lát ‘let’ used in l.1. The interpretation of Merl 2012 is that Merlin turns from addressing Vortigernus to addressing his workmen. More likely, however, is that implicitly Vortigernus is the speaker of ll. 5-10, as indicated by the following sentence in DGB (see I 14, Note to [All]).
síðan ‘then’
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síðan (adv.): later, then
hvat ‘what’
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hvat (pron.): what
spát ‘prophesied’
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2. spá (verb)
notes
[5-10]: Complex word order occurs intermittently in Merl. See for example I 54/9-12 and I 63/5‑8.
hafi ‘has’
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hafa (verb): have
spillir ‘the despoiler’
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2. spillir (noun m.): destroyer
kennings
spillir bauga‘the despoiler of rings ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Merlin
the despoiler of rings → GENEROUS MAN = Merlin
bauga ‘of rings’
(not checked:)
baugr (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): ring
kennings
spillir bauga‘the despoiler of rings ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Merlin
the despoiler of rings → GENEROUS MAN = Merlin
es ‘is’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
nýlunda ‘a novelty’
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nýlunda (noun f.)
niðr ‘down’
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3. niðr (adv.): down
ór ‘from’
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3. ór (prep.): out of
fjalli ‘the mountain’
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1. fjall (noun n.): mountain
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Cf. DGB 108 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 141.573): Praecipe hauriri stagnum per riuulos ‘Order the pool to be drained through channels’ (cf. Reeve and Wright 2007, 140).
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