GunnLeif Merl I 37VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 105 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 37)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 74.
Láð ‘the land’
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2. láð (noun n.): earth, land
notes
[1] munu ‘will’: Emended in Bret 1848-9, followed by all subsequent eds, from ms. mun.
láta ‘abandon’
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
þeirs ‘Those’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
lifa ‘who’
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lifa (verb): live
eptir ‘survive’
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eptir (prep.): after, behind
ferr ‘will go’
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
in ‘the’
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2. inn (art.): the
þingdjarfa ‘battle-daring’
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þingdjarfr (adj.)
þjóð ‘people’
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þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people
ór ‘from’
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3. ór (prep.): out of
landi ‘the territory’
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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
blezaðr ‘A blessed’
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blessa (verb): bless
gramr ‘king’
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1. gramr (noun m.): ruler
brezkr ‘the British’
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brezkr (adj.): British
jǫfurr ‘leader’
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jǫfurr (noun m.): ruler, prince
skip ‘ships’
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skip (noun n.; °-s; -): ship
sín ‘his’
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3. sinn (pron.; °f. sín, n. sitt): (refl. poss. pron.)
á ‘for’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
brott ‘departure’
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1. brott (adv.): away
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
hann ‘he will’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
skjótla ‘soon’
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skjótla (adv.)
verðr ‘become’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
taliðr ‘reckoned’
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telja (verb): tell, count
tírgǫfugr ‘glorious’
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tírgǫfugr (adj.)
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
notes
[10] í tolfta ‘in the twelfth’: This apparently nonsensical expression must ultimately be due to an incorrect reading .xii. (expanded to duodecimi ‘of the twelfth’) in Geoffrey’s text, supplanting original *xri or *xti, i.e. Christi ‘of Christ’, in reference to the caelestis regni aula ‘palace of the heavenly kingdom’ mentioned in DGB XI (206.586: Reeve and Wright 2007, 281). The commentaries attempt to explain in ad hoc fashion, e.g. (Hammer 1940, 416): in aula duodecimi, id est in ecclesia beati Petri apostoli ‘in the hall of the twelfth, i.e. in the church of St Peter the apostle’ and ‘King Cadwaladre … was buried in the chirche of xij. Apostolles. and is a seint’ (Eckhardt 1982, 73). Emended to tólpti í and construed as ‘twelfth in [the hall]’ in Skj B, followed by Skald, on the basis of an incorrect interpretation of .xii. as duodecimus ‘twelfth’ in Bret 1848‑9. In a hybrid approach, Merl 2012 reads í tólpta hǫll but translates, in combination with hann skjótla verðr taliðr, as der Edle wird bald als zwölfter gerechnet in der Halle ‘the noble one will soon be reckoned as twelfth in the hall’, but this is ruled out by considerations of syntax and word order.
tolfta ‘the twelfth’
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tolfti (num. ordinal): twelfth
notes
[10] í tolfta ‘in the twelfth’: This apparently nonsensical expression must ultimately be due to an incorrect reading .xii. (expanded to duodecimi ‘of the twelfth’) in Geoffrey’s text, supplanting original *xri or *xti, i.e. Christi ‘of Christ’, in reference to the caelestis regni aula ‘palace of the heavenly kingdom’ mentioned in DGB XI (206.586: Reeve and Wright 2007, 281). The commentaries attempt to explain in ad hoc fashion, e.g. (Hammer 1940, 416): in aula duodecimi, id est in ecclesia beati Petri apostoli ‘in the hall of the twelfth, i.e. in the church of St Peter the apostle’ and ‘King Cadwaladre … was buried in the chirche of xij. Apostolles. and is a seint’ (Eckhardt 1982, 73). Emended to tólpti í and construed as ‘twelfth in [the hall]’ in Skj B, followed by Skald, on the basis of an incorrect interpretation of .xii. as duodecimus ‘twelfth’ in Bret 1848‑9. In a hybrid approach, Merl 2012 reads í tólpta hǫll but translates, in combination with hann skjótla verðr taliðr, as der Edle wird bald als zwölfter gerechnet in der Halle ‘the noble one will soon be reckoned as twelfth in the hall’, but this is ruled out by considerations of syntax and word order.
hǫll ‘hall’
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1. hǫll (noun f.; °hallar, dat. -u/-; hallir): hall
sæll ‘blessed’
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sæll (adj.): happy, blessed
með ‘among’
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með (prep.): with
sælum ‘the blessed’
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sæll (adj.): happy, blessed
settr ‘seated’
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setja (verb): place, set, establish
guðs ‘of God’
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1. guð (noun m.; °***guðrs, guðis, gus): (Christian) God
vinum ‘friends’
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vinr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -/(-i OsvReyk 92.17); -ir): friend
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Cf. DGB 112 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 147.59-61; cf. Wright 1988, 103, prophecy 5): Residui natale solum deserent et exteras culturas seminabunt. Rex benedictus parabit nauigium et in aula duodecimi inter beatos annumerabitur ‘The survivors will leave their native soil and sow in foreign fields. A blessed king will prepare a fleet and will be numbered among the saints in the palace of the twelfth’ (cf. Reeve and Wright 2007, 146). This prophecy alludes to the exodus of the British people from their native land to settle in Armorica (Brittany). They are accompanied by King Cadualadrus, who after eleven years of exile contemplates a re-settlement of Britain but is summoned by an angelic voice to go to Rome to do penance in advance of eventual sanctification, as narrated in DGB XI (Reeve and Wright 2007, 276-81).
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