GunnLeif Merl I 36VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 104 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 36)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 73.
Kemr ‘will come’
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koma (verb; kem, kom/kvam, kominn): come
bardagi ‘scourge’
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bardagi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): [scourge, battles]
notes
[1] bardagi ‘the scourge’: This sense of the word, which normally means ‘battle’ (see further Note to l. 10), occurs chiefly in learned and religious texts. The word is not otherwise attested in poetry except in Bjbp Jóms 7/2I, where it refers to a battle.
buðlungs ‘of the king’
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buðlungr (noun m.; °; -ar): king, prince
[2] buðlungs: buðlung Hb
kennings
buðlungs himins‘of the king of heaven ’
= God
the king of heaven → God
notes
[2] buðlungs ‘of the king’: Emended in Skj B, followed by Skald, Merl 2012 and this edn, for ms. buðlung (not refreshed).
himins ‘of heaven’
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himinn (noun m.; °himins, dat. himni; himnar): heaven, sky
kennings
buðlungs himins‘of the king of heaven ’
= God
the king of heaven → God
ákafr ‘violent’
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ákafr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): vehement, fiery
of ‘over’
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
her ‘the people’
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herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host
ári ‘the harvest’
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2. ár (noun n.; °-s; -): year, year’s abundance
steypir ‘will ruin’
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steypa (verb): throw down, cast off
Kvelr ‘will afflict’
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kvelja (verb): torment, torture
inn ‘The’
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2. inn (art.): the
harði ‘harsh’
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harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh
helverkr ‘torment of Hell’
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helverkr (noun m.): [mortal illness]
fira ‘men’
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firar (noun m.): men
megut ‘will not be able to’
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mega (verb): may, might
dauðan ‘the dead’
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2. dauðr (adj.): dead
her ‘people’
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herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host
dróttir ‘men’
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1. drótt (noun f.): troop
hylja ‘bury’
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2. hylja (verb): to bury, cover, inhume
Líðr ‘will advance’
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1. líða (verb): move, glide
sultr ‘Hunger’
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sultr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-): famine, hunger
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
sótt ‘sickness’
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sótt (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): illness
at ‘on’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
sigr ‘victory’
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sigr (noun m.; °sigrs/sigrar, dat. sigri; sigrar): victory < sigrviðr (noun m.)
kennings
sigrviðum,‘victory-trees, ’
= WARRIORS
victory-trees, → WARRIORS
notes
[10] sigrviðum ‘victory-trees [WARRIORS]’: Gunnlaugr appears to ironise the plight of the Britons, who having waxed excessively bellicose now find themselves defeated by God’s bardagi, understood as ‘scourge’ (l. 1) but with overtones of the other familiar sense, ‘warfare’. Cf. their description as þingdjarfa ‘battle-daring’ in I 37/3.
viðum ‘trees’
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1. viðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -u/-i): wood, tree < sigrviðr (noun m.)
kennings
sigrviðum,‘victory-trees, ’
= WARRIORS
victory-trees, → WARRIORS
notes
[10] sigrviðum ‘victory-trees [WARRIORS]’: Gunnlaugr appears to ironise the plight of the Britons, who having waxed excessively bellicose now find themselves defeated by God’s bardagi, understood as ‘scourge’ (l. 1) but with overtones of the other familiar sense, ‘warfare’. Cf. their description as þingdjarfa ‘battle-daring’ in I 37/3.
missir ‘there is loss’
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2. missa (verb): lose, lack
notes
[11] missir ‘there is loss’: This edn follows Skj B, with which Kock concurs (FF §63); on this construal missir is a verb, used impersonally (cf. LP: missa 2). Merl 2012 instead construes missir as the nom. sg. of the noun missir ‘loss’, as suggested in LP: missir, which may equally well be the correct solution.
manna ‘of men’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
mǫrg ‘many’
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
stríð ‘hardships’
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2. stríð (noun n.; °-s; -): affliction
hǫfug ‘grievous’
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hǫfugr (adj.; °acc. hǫfgan, compar. hǫfgari): heavy, difficult
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
|
‘Kemr bardagi |
‘The violent scourge of the king of heaven [= God] will come over the people, will ruin the harvest. The harsh torment of Hell will afflict men; men will not be able to bury the dead people. Hunger and sickness will advance on victory-trees [WARRIORS], [and] many grievous hardships; there is loss of men.
Cf. DGB 112 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 147.58-9; cf. Wright 1988, 103, prophecy 5): Superueniet itaque ultio Tonantis, quia omnis ager colonos decipiet. Arripiet mortalitas populum cunctasque nationes euacuabit ‘Upon it will come the retribution of the Thunderer, for every field will disappoint its cultivators. Pestilence will smite the people and empty every region’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 146). — [9-12]: A composite subject, with sg. verb governed by the first component of the subject, as happens sporadically elsewhere in Merl (cf. NS §66). Kock (FF §63) notes the parallel construction in ll. 9 and 12.
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