GunnLeif Merl I 44VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 112 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 44)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 80.
Þá ‘Then’
(not checked:)
2. þá (adv.): then
notes
[1] þá ‘then’: Merl 2012 interprets the ms. reading as þat ‘that’ and translates Das wird den Menschen und der Fessel des Waldes [= der Schlange] wie ein scharfer Nordostwind entgegenwehen ‘That will blow against men and the fetter of the grove [= the snake] like a bitter northeast wind’, but this involves the introduction of wie ‘like, as’.
mun ‘will’
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munu (verb): will, must
grimmum ‘the savage’
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grimmr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): fierce
[1] grimmum: gumnum Hb
kennings
grimmum fjǫtri lundar‘the savage fetter of the grove, ’
= SNAKE
the savage fetter of the grove, → SNAKE
notes
[1] grimmum ‘savage’: Emended in this edn from ms. gumnum ‘to men’ (not refreshed), which is retained in all previous eds. Bret 1848-9 and Skj B leave gumnum untranslated (despite a statement to the contrary regarding Skj B in Merl 2012) but appear to have construed it as an appositional expansion to fjǫtri lundar ‘the fetter of the grove [SNAKE]’; this, although advocated by Kock (NN §102), leads to an awkward discrepancy between pl. and sg. The other cases discussed by Kock are not syntactically parallel. Merl 2012 instead posits a double object but is obliged to add und ‘and’ to the translation (see Note to l. 1 above). The emendation grimmum is palaeographically straightforward and removes these difficulties. Gunnlaugr uses the adj. grimmr ‘savage’ and adv. grimmliga ‘savagely’ elsewhere (I 16/3, I 32/9, I 48/2, I 64/5, II 28/6) and it fits well with Geoffrey’s ascription of saeuicia ‘savagery’ to the white serpent in 112.39 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 147). See Introduction for apparent errors in the Hb text.
ganga ‘come’
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2. ganga (verb; geng, gekk, gengu, genginn): walk, go
at ‘against’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
móti ‘’
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móti (prep.): against
landnyrðingr ‘northeast wind’
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landnyrðingr (noun m.)
notes
[3] landnyrðingr ‘a northeast wind’: This term is explained as originating with reference to the western coast of Norway (LP: landnorðr lit. ‘land-north’, north-east). Cf. Merl I 84/2. For scholarly discussion of this system of orientation see Stefán Einarsson (1944), Haugen (1957), Jackson (1998), Wanner (2009, 49‑50). DGB has simply ‘a north wind’.
hvass ‘a sharp’
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hvass (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): keen, sharp
lundar ‘of the grove’
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1. lundr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ar): grove, tree
kennings
grimmum fjǫtri lundar‘the savage fetter of the grove, ’
= SNAKE
the savage fetter of the grove, → SNAKE
fjǫtri ‘fetter’
(not checked:)
fjǫturr (noun m.): fetter
kennings
grimmum fjǫtri lundar‘the savage fetter of the grove, ’
= SNAKE
the savage fetter of the grove, → SNAKE
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
blóma ‘the flowers’
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blómi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): flower
þá ‘that’
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2. þá (adv.): then
á ‘away’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
brott ‘’
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1. brott (adv.): away
reka ‘drive’
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2. reka (verb): drive, force
es ‘the’
(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when
vestrœnir ‘westerly’
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vestrœnn (adj.): [western]
vindar ‘winds’
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1. vindr (noun m.; °-s/-ar; -ar): wind
grœddu ‘fostered’
(not checked:)
grœða (verb): heal
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Cf. DGB 113 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 147.68-9; cf. Wright 1988, 103, prophecy 8): Tunc exurget in illum aquilo et flores quos zephirus procreauit eripiet ‘Then the north wind will rise against it and blow away the flowers the western breeze has nurtured’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 146). This prophecy alludes to Viking raids in England.
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