GunnLeif Merl I 2VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 70 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 49.
Jǫrð ‘The land’
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jǫrð (noun f.; °jarðar, dat. -u; jarðir/jarðar(DN I (1367) 304)): ground, earth
vas ‘was’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
forðum ‘in former days’
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forðum (adv.): formerly, once
fyrr ‘previously’
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fyrr (adv.): before, sooner
notes
[2] fyrr ‘previously’: A refreshed reading, emended to fríð ‘beautiful’ in Skj B, followed by Skald and Merl 2012. A cpd fyrkend ‘named for’ is proposed in Bret 1848-9, but without parallel attestations. The text is admittedly somewhat laborious in articulating the chronology, but emendation is not strictly necessary.
kend ‘called after’
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kenna (verb): know, teach
notes
[2] kend ‘called after’: A possible alternative interpretation is ‘belonged to’, but this sub-sense has only one attestation in skaldic poetry (Anon Brúðv 27/8VII).
Bretum ‘the Britons’
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Breti (noun m.; °; -ar): Briton
Englum ‘to the English’
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Englar (noun m.): English people
es ‘which’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
eignuð ‘been assigned’
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eigna (verb; °-að-): acquire
síðan ‘since’
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síðan (adv.): later, then
þvíat ‘for’
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þvíat (conj.): because
in ‘the’
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2. inn (art.): the
enska ‘English’
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enskr (adj.): English
þjóð ‘people’
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þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people
áðan ‘beforehand’
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áðan (adv.): before
vélti ‘deceived’
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véla (verb): betray, trick
breks ‘to the extortion of land’
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brek (noun n.; °; gen. -a): [transgressions]
notes
[7] ósama breks ‘[who were] averse to the extortion of land’: I.e. the Britons did not authorise the Angles’ seizure of land. Rather, they were tricked by false assurances from the new arrivals. The adj. ósamr occurs only once elsewhere (ONP: ósamr), and is explained as ‘unwilling, disinclined’ or similar (LP, Fritzner: ósamr; CVC: úsamr). The word brek seems to have had a specialised sense, in relation to land claims, of ‘strenuous insistence, exorbitance, rapacity or fraudulence in claiming’ (cf. CVC, Fritzner, ONP: brek) and this probably pertains in the present context. Bret translates as haardföre ‘resistant, intransigent’, but this seems to be a purely ad hoc explanation. Finnur Jónsson explains as ‘living peacefully’ (Skj B, LP: brek), but this does not capture the specific meaning of brek and is belied by subsequent characterisations of the Britons as given to faction-fighting (see especially I 35). Merl 2012 renders brek as Begehren ‘desire’ (noun), which seems too mild and, once again, does not reflect the specialised sense of brek.
ósama ‘[who were] averse’
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ósami (noun m.)
notes
[7] ósama breks ‘[who were] averse to the extortion of land’: I.e. the Britons did not authorise the Angles’ seizure of land. Rather, they were tricked by false assurances from the new arrivals. The adj. ósamr occurs only once elsewhere (ONP: ósamr), and is explained as ‘unwilling, disinclined’ or similar (LP, Fritzner: ósamr; CVC: úsamr). The word brek seems to have had a specialised sense, in relation to land claims, of ‘strenuous insistence, exorbitance, rapacity or fraudulence in claiming’ (cf. CVC, Fritzner, ONP: brek) and this probably pertains in the present context. Bret translates as haardföre ‘resistant, intransigent’, but this seems to be a purely ad hoc explanation. Finnur Jónsson explains as ‘living peacefully’ (Skj B, LP: brek), but this does not capture the specific meaning of brek and is belied by subsequent characterisations of the Britons as given to faction-fighting (see especially I 35). Merl 2012 renders brek as Begehren ‘desire’ (noun), which seems too mild and, once again, does not reflect the specialised sense of brek.
brezka ‘the British’
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brezkr (adj.): British
lýði ‘people’
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lýðr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir): one of the people
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The notion of deception derives from the tradition that when Vortigern invited a select corps of Saxons to protect his kingdom they seized the opportunity to conquer the country, despite oaths to the contrary (Bede HE I, 15: Colgrave and Mynors 1969, 50-1; cf. Henry of Huntingdon, largely quoting Bede, in HA 1996, 80-1).
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