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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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GunnLeif Merl I 53VIII

Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 121 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 53)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 90.

Gunnlaugr LeifssonMerlínusspá I
525354

text and translation

‘Verðr meinliga         mæki brugðit;
sék blóði ben         blása móður;
líðr mart hǫfugt         of lýða kyn.
Rýðr varðar blóð         Venedócíam,
ok síðan sex         snarpir lifra
kynsmenn drepa         Kórínéus.

‘Mæki verðr meinliga brugðit; sék ben blása blóði móður; mart hǫfugt líðr of kyn lýða. Blóð varðar rýðr Venedócíam, ok síðan drepa snarpir kynsmenn Kórínéus sex lifra.
 
‘‘The sword will be drawn with ill intent; I see the wound spurt with the mother’s blood. Much hardship will come over the race of men. The blood of the woman will redden Venedotia and then bold kinsmen of Corineus will slay six brothers.

notes and context

Cf. DGB 113 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 147.86-149.87; cf. Wright 1988, 104, prophecy 11): Venedocia rubebit materno sanguine, et domus Corinei sex fratres interficiet ‘Venedotia will run red with a mother’s blood, and the house of Corineus kill six brothers’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 146, 148). The historical status of this prophecy is difficult to assess. The first clause of the prophecy possibly extrapolates Geoffrey’s awareness of growing unrest against Henry I in Wales (Poole 1955, 290-1; cf. Curley 1982, 223) into the immediate future. The Lat. Venedocia corresponds to Welsh Gwynedd, the kingdom in North Wales. The mention of the house of Corineus, i.e. the successors of the legendary first ruler of Cornwall (cf. DGB I: Reeve and Wright 2007, 28-9) in the second clause of the prophecy might then personify Cornish involvement in this imagined conflict. But confused records exist concerning an atrocity in Cornwall, committed against Normans and datable to some time between 1100 and 1129 (Padel 1984, 20-7), that matches the account and hence gives the prophecy historic status. — [3-4]: To judge by their subject-matter, these lines may have originally belonged after ll. 5-6 and have come in here by way of anticipation. Previous eds signal the difficulty by placing ll. 5-6 in parentheses. — [9-12]: The word order is somewhat convoluted, since sex ‘six’ must be taken, for sense and match with Geoffrey’s text, with lifra ‘brothers’, not snarpir kynsmenn ‘bold kinsmen’ (contrast Bret 1848‑9).

sources

Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.

editions and texts

Skj: Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínússpá II 53: AII, 29, BII, 34-5, Skald II, 22; Bret 1848-9, II, 57 (Bret st. 121); Hb 1892-6, 280; Merl 2012, 168.

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