GunnLeif Merl I 28VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 96 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 28)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 66.
Ok ‘And’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
ôttungar ‘the descendants’
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1. áttungr (noun m.; °; -ar): kinsman
ins ‘of the’
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2. inn (art.): the
ítra ‘illustrious’
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ítr (adj.): glorious
grams ‘king’
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1. gramr (noun m.): ruler
laða ‘will attract’
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laða (verb): invite
notes
[3-4] laða landi ok þegnum at lofðungi ‘will attract land and subjects to the ruler’: Among possible explanations for sg. ‘ruler’ here are that it alludes to Arthur’s status as perpetual king (cryptically referred to in I 26/7-8) or that it is used pars pro toto for ‘royal line/dynasty’.
at ‘to’
(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to
notes
[3-4] laða landi ok þegnum at lofðungi ‘will attract land and subjects to the ruler’: Among possible explanations for sg. ‘ruler’ here are that it alludes to Arthur’s status as perpetual king (cryptically referred to in I 26/7-8) or that it is used pars pro toto for ‘royal line/dynasty’.
lofðungi ‘the ruler’
(not checked:)
lofðungr (noun m.; °; -ar): king, leader
notes
[3-4] laða landi ok þegnum at lofðungi ‘will attract land and subjects to the ruler’: Among possible explanations for sg. ‘ruler’ here are that it alludes to Arthur’s status as perpetual king (cryptically referred to in I 26/7-8) or that it is used pars pro toto for ‘royal line/dynasty’.
landi ‘land’
(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
notes
[3-4] laða landi ok þegnum at lofðungi ‘will attract land and subjects to the ruler’: Among possible explanations for sg. ‘ruler’ here are that it alludes to Arthur’s status as perpetual king (cryptically referred to in I 26/7-8) or that it is used pars pro toto for ‘royal line/dynasty’.
ok ‘and’
(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
notes
[3-4] laða landi ok þegnum at lofðungi ‘will attract land and subjects to the ruler’: Among possible explanations for sg. ‘ruler’ here are that it alludes to Arthur’s status as perpetual king (cryptically referred to in I 26/7-8) or that it is used pars pro toto for ‘royal line/dynasty’.
þegnum ‘subjects’
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þegn (noun m.; °dat. -/-i; -ar): thane, man, franklin
notes
[3-4] laða landi ok þegnum at lofðungi ‘will attract land and subjects to the ruler’: Among possible explanations for sg. ‘ruler’ here are that it alludes to Arthur’s status as perpetual king (cryptically referred to in I 26/7-8) or that it is used pars pro toto for ‘royal line/dynasty’.
En ‘But’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
eptir ‘after’
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eptir (prep.): after, behind
orms ‘snake’
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ormr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): serpent
ins ‘of the’
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2. inn (art.): the
hvíta ‘white’
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hvítr (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): white
verðr ‘will become’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
meira ‘greater’
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meiri (adj. comp.; °meiran; superl. mestr): more, most
vald ‘the power’
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vald (noun n.; °-s; *-): strength, power
en ‘than’
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4. en (conj.): than
verit ‘been’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
hafði ‘it had’
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hafa (verb): have
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Cf. DGB 112 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 145.43-4; cf. Wright 1988, 102, prophecy 3): Sex posteri eius sequentur sceptrum, sed post ipsos exsurget Germanicus uermis ‘His six successors will wield the sceptre, but after them the German [i.e. Germanic] worm will rise’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 144). The idea of ‘six’ is absent from Merl. The variant reading sed, for sex, is found in mss O and G (Reeve and Wright 2007, 145; cf. xlv and xlvii for identifications of these mss); Gunnlaugr’s copy-text may have been related to them, but polygenetic error is also thinkable (Reeve and Wright 2007, xviii). Equivalents of the term ‘sceptre’ do not occur in Merl (cf. I 33). In reckoning with an increase in territorial sway on the part of Arthur’s successors, Gunnlaugr may have drawn on the narrative in DGB XI (J. S. Eysteinsson 1953-7, 100; for text see Reeve and Wright 2007, 254-5).
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