GunnLeif Merl I 31VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 99 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 31)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 69.
Stór ‘Great’
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stórr (adj.): large, great
verða ‘will occur’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
rǫk ‘wonders’
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2. rak (noun n.; °; *-): omen, lore
rignir ‘it will rain’
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1. rigna (verb): [it rains]
blóði ‘with blood’
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blóð (noun n.; °-s): blood
hár ‘afflict’
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2. heyja (verb): fight, wage (battle)
snarpr ‘acute’
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snarpr (adj.): sharp, keen
at ‘will’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
sultr ‘famine’
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sultr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-): famine, hunger
mannkyni ‘mankind’
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mannkyn (noun n.): mankind
En ‘But’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
inn ‘the’
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2. inn (art.): the
rauði ‘red’
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rauðr (adj.; °compar. -ari): red
snákr ‘snake’
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snákr (noun m.): snake
eflisk ‘gathers strength’
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efla (verb; °-fld-/-að-(RómvUpph¹ 382²⁴)): strengthen
notes
[6] eflisk síðan ‘gathers strength afterwards’: This is the reading of Hb (not refreshed) and it is retained by Bret 1848-9, Merl 2012 and this edn. Other eds have seen the lack of alliteration as pointing to a problem with the text. Skj B, followed by Skald, emends to síðan eflisk with the objective of restoring alliteration on <s> on the hǫfuðstafr ‘head-stave’; the alliteration created in this way, however, would then cause difficulties in l. 5, where it would fall in a prohibited position, the second lift in a Type B-line. Given that demonstrable errors in the Hb text occur elsewhere (see Introduction), it may be that eflisk has supplanted some other word.
síðan ‘afterwards’
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síðan (adv.): later, then
notes
[6] eflisk síðan ‘gathers strength afterwards’: This is the reading of Hb (not refreshed) and it is retained by Bret 1848-9, Merl 2012 and this edn. Other eds have seen the lack of alliteration as pointing to a problem with the text. Skj B, followed by Skald, emends to síðan eflisk with the objective of restoring alliteration on <s> on the hǫfuðstafr ‘head-stave’; the alliteration created in this way, however, would then cause difficulties in l. 5, where it would fall in a prohibited position, the second lift in a Type B-line. Given that demonstrable errors in the Hb text occur elsewhere (see Introduction), it may be that eflisk has supplanted some other word.
fær ‘will acquire’
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2. fá (verb; °fǽr; fekk, fengu; fenginn): get, receive
hann ‘he’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
af ‘from’
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af (prep.): from
miklu ‘great’
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mikill (adj.; °mikinn): great, large
mátt ‘power’
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máttr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. mǽtti/mátt; mǽttir, dat. -um): power
erfiði ‘exertion’
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erfiði (noun n.; °-s): hardship
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Cf. DGB 112 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 147.50-1; cf. Wright 1988, 102, prophecies 3 and 4): Pluet sanguineus imber, et dira fames mortales afficiet. His superuenientibus, dolebit rubeus sed emenso labore uigebit ‘A rain of blood will fall, and a terrible famine will afflict mortals. The red dragon will lament as these occur, but will recover its strength once the travail is over’ (cf. Reeve and Wright 2007, 146). This prophecy alludes to events narrated in DGB XI (Reeve and Wright 2007, 256-7).
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