GunnLeif Merl I 42VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 110 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 42)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 78.
Eru ‘are’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
lauf ‘of the leafy’
(not checked:)
lauf (noun n.; °-s; -): leaf < laufviðr (noun m.)
kennings
ljósum fjǫtri laufviðar‘to the white fetter of the leafy tree ’
= SNAKE
to the white fetter of the leafy tree → SNAKE
viðar ‘tree’
(not checked:)
1. viðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -u/-i): wood, tree < laufviðr (noun m.)
kennings
ljósum fjǫtri laufviðar‘to the white fetter of the leafy tree ’
= SNAKE
to the white fetter of the leafy tree → SNAKE
ljósum ‘to the white’
(not checked:)
ljóss (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): bright
kennings
ljósum fjǫtri laufviðar‘to the white fetter of the leafy tree ’
= SNAKE
to the white fetter of the leafy tree → SNAKE
fjǫtri ‘fetter’
(not checked:)
fjǫturr (noun m.): fetter
kennings
ljósum fjǫtri laufviðar‘to the white fetter of the leafy tree ’
= SNAKE
to the white fetter of the leafy tree → SNAKE
takmǫrk ‘Limits’
(not checked:)
takmark (noun n.)
gefin ‘set’
(not checked:)
gefa (verb): give
í ‘as to’
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í (prep.): in, into
tali ‘number’
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tal (noun n.; °-s; *-): talk, speech; number
ára ‘of years’
(not checked:)
2. ár (noun n.; °-s; -): year, year’s abundance
Munat ‘will not’
(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must
hann ‘He’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
ríkja ‘govern’
(not checked:)
ríkja (verb): rule
of ‘’
(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too
in ‘the’
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2. inn (art.): the
rǫmmu ‘mighty’
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rammr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): mighty
skǫp ‘fates’
(not checked:)
1. skap (noun n.; °-s; *-): mind, fate
né ‘nor’
(not checked:)
né (conj.): nor
inu ‘that’
(not checked:)
2. inn (art.): the
fagra ‘fair’
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fagr (adj.; °fagran; compar. fegri, superl. fegrstr): fair, beautiful
fróni ‘land’
(not checked:)
2. frón (noun n.): earth, land
ráða ‘rule’
(not checked:)
ráða (verb): advise, rule, interpret, decide
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Cf. DGB 112 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 147.66; cf. Wright 1988, 103, prophecy 7): Terminus illi positus est quem transuolare nequibit ‘A limit has been set for the white dragon beyond which it will not be able to fly’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 146). Gunnlaugr partially rationalises this prophecy of the Norman Conquest by explicitly mentioning rule over the land (cf. Note to I 32/5-8) and additionally invokes the concept of an over-ruling Fate (skǫp: cf. Fritzner: skǫp), as also in I 49/8. The Norman Conquest itself is narrated in I 46‑8.
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