GunnLeif Merl I 19VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 87 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 19)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 61.
text and translation
‘Seg, Merlínus,’ kvað menbroti,
‘— est þú fróðari fyrðum ǫðrum —,
hvat tákna mun tveggja orma
ógurligt víg aldar bǫrnum.’
‘Seg, Merlínus,’ kvað {menbroti}, ‘— þú est fróðari ǫðrum fyrðum —, hvat ógurligt víg tveggja orma mun tákna bǫrnum aldar.’
‘‘Say, Merlin,’ said the neck-ring breaker [GENEROUS MAN = Vortigern], ‘— you are wiser than other men —, what the fearsome battle of the two snakes will mean for the children of men.’ ’
notes and context
Cf. DGB 111 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 145.31-2): praecepit rex Ambrosio Merlino dicere quid proelium draconum portendebat ‘the king commanded Ambrosius Merlin to tell him what the battle of the serpents presaged’ (cf. Reeve and Wright 2007, 144).
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.
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AM 544 4° (Hb) — 51r/19 - 51r/20
imagesSegþv merlinvs kvað menbroti erttv froðari fy | rðvm avðrvm hvat takna manna ·í· orma ogvrlegt víg alldar bórnvm
(VEÞ)
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