GunnLeif Merl I 20VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 88 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 20)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 61.
Grét ‘wept’
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2. gráta (verb): weep
gumna ‘of men’
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gumi (noun m.; °-a; gumar/gumnar): man
vinr ‘The friend’
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vinr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -/(-i OsvReyk 92.17); -ir): friend
es ‘when’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
hann ‘him’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
greiða ‘explain’
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greiða (verb): alleviate
þengill ‘king’
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þengill (noun m.): prince, ruler
gǫfugr ‘the noble’
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gǫfugr (adj.; °gǫfgan/gǫfugan; compar. gǫfgari/gǫfugri, superl. gǫfgastr/gǫfugstr/gǫfugastr): noble, glorious
hegju ‘happening’
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hegja (noun f.): [condition, events]
Ok ‘And’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
eptir ‘after’
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eptir (prep.): after, behind
aldar ‘of the people’
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ǫld (noun f.; °; aldir): people, age
kennings
snytrir aldar‘the teacher of the people ’
= PROPHET = Merlin
the teacher of the people → PROPHET = Merlin
snytrir ‘the teacher’
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snytrir (noun m.): teacher, instructor
kennings
snytrir aldar‘the teacher of the people ’
= PROPHET = Merlin
the teacher of the people → PROPHET = Merlin
rǫkstælta ‘well-grounded’
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rǫkstæltr (adj.)
notes
[7] rǫkstælta spá ‘well-grounded prophecy’: Cf. LP: rǫkstæltr; this would mean literally ‘prophecy reinforced by signs’; cf. Note to II 3/7.
spá ‘prophecy’
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1. spá (noun f.; °-r; -r/-ir): prophecy
notes
[7] rǫkstælta spá ‘well-grounded prophecy’: Cf. LP: rǫkstæltr; this would mean literally ‘prophecy reinforced by signs’; cf. Note to II 3/7.
rekkum ‘to the men’
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rekkr (noun m.; °; -ar): man, champion
sagði ‘spoke’
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segja (verb): say, tell
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Cf. DGB 111 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 145.32-3): Mox ille, in fletum erumpens, spiritum hausit prophetiae et ait ‘He burst into tears and was inspired to prophesy thus’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 144). Gunnlaugr’s added characterisations of the prophet (‘teacher of the people’) and the prophecy (‘well-grounded’) may be part of his determined advocacy of the material’s veracity, seen most explicitly in I 95‑102.
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