GunnLeif Merl I 63VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 131 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 63)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 100.
Ríðr ‘will ride’
(not checked:)
1. ríða (verb): ride
inn ‘The’
(not checked:)
2. inn (art.): the
prúði ‘splendid man’
(not checked:)
prúðr (adj.; °superl. -astr): magnificent, proud
til ‘to’
(not checked:)
til (prep.): to
Peritónis ‘Periron’
(not checked:)
Perítónisá (noun f.)
notes
[2] Peritónis ‘Periron’: This reading agrees with that of ms. R of the First Variant Version, viz. Peritonis for majority Perironis (Wright 1988, 105), but may be a case of coincident error, given that confusion of <r> and <t> is frequent. The form Perítónis is a Latin gen. (cf. léónis in I 57/7), and Gunnlaugr seems to have taken it over as a gen. of definition specifying the river denoted generically by the common noun ár (gen. case).
hvítum ‘a white’
(not checked:)
hvítr (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): white
hesti ‘horse’
(not checked:)
hestr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): horse, stallion
hvatr ‘a bold’
(not checked:)
hvatr (adj.; °-ari, -an; -astr): keen, brave
ǫldurmaðr ‘lord’
(not checked:)
ǫldurmaðr (noun m.): [leaders]
notes
[4] ǫldurmaðr ‘lord’: This term, adopted from OE/Early ME ealdormann, aldormann (LP: ǫldurmaðr, but not noted by Hofmann 1955) or Middle Low German (AEW: ǫldurmaðr), occurs in later C12th skaldic poetry, notably Bjbp Jóms 11/2I and Anon Pl 13/4VII, evidently in the sense of ‘leader’; see Notes to those two locations. Gunnlaugr may have used it in awareness of English terminology, but it was also current in reference to Old Testament patriarchs (ONP: ǫldurmaðr) and was subsequently applied to Norwegian guild leaders (Fritzner: ǫldurmaðr), perhaps influenced by ME alderman. At some point it appears to have become associated with aldr ‘age, old age’ (ONP: ǫldurmaðr, citing Kolsrud 1952, 110): Prestbiter þyðiz olldur madr at voro máli. þviat hann skylldi sua vera at uiti ok uisdomi ‘Priest is translated as ǫldurmaðr in our language because he should be such in knowledge and wisdom’. Possibly this had already occurred at Gunnlaugr’s time.
Ok ‘And’
(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
hvítum ‘with a white’
(not checked:)
hvítr (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): white
notes
[6, 7] hvítum staf ‘with a white staff’: See Note to I 47/3-4.
þar ‘there’
(not checked:)
þar (adv.): there
hann ‘he’
(not checked:)
hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
markar ‘will mark out’
(not checked:)
marka (verb): to draw, mark, carve
staf ‘staff’
(not checked:)
stafr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir): staff, post, stave, stick
notes
[6, 7] hvítum staf ‘with a white staff’: See Note to I 47/3-4.
notes
[7] aldrœnn ‘the aged [man]’: In this edn the adj. is taken as in apposition with hann ‘he’ and referring back to the man mentioned in the first helmingr. The emendation to –rœnn is minor, since geminate <n> is frequently not shown in Hb (Hb 1892-6, xliii). In previous eds the adj. is construed as n. pl., qualifying hús, also construed as n. pl., but this deviates from Geoffrey’s text, where it is the niveus ‘snow-white’ man who is described as ‘old’ (senex), not the mill-house, which in the logic of the passage is presumably not old, since it awaits construction, and is clearly sg., not pl.
yfir ‘above’
(not checked:)
yfir (prep.): over
kvernar ‘a mill’
(not checked:)
kvern (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-ar): [hand-mill]
hús ‘house’
(not checked:)
hús (noun n.; °-s; -): house
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Cf. DGB 115 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 149.108-10; cf. Wright 1988, 105, prophecy 19): Niueus quoque senex in niueo equo fluuium Perironis diuertet et cum candida uirga molendinum super ipsum metabitur ‘A snow-white old man on a snow-white horse will divert the river Periron and with a white rod measure out a mill on its bank’ (cf. Reeve and Wright 2007, 148). The Book of Llan Dav, c. 1150, locates Aper Periron not far from the town of Monmouth as a branch of the Cadlan (Curley 1982, 244, citing Williams 1955, xxxvi-xxxvii); some of the commentaries also place it near Monmouth (e.g. Hammer 1940, 419). The C10th Armes Prydein ‘The Prophecy of Britain’ describes a confrontation between the Welsh and the steward of an English king, possibly Æthelstan, at this location (Curley 1982, 225-6; Faletra 2008, 134). However, it is possible that Geoffrey is alluding by means of this anecdote about a snow-white old man to the rapid rise of the Cistercians, a monastic order distinguished by its members’ wearing of white robes. The order gained institutional definition with the Carta caritatis of Stephen Harding, confirmed by Pope Calixtus II in 1119 (Poole 1955, 187), and rapidly became very popular in England (Barrow 1956, 105). The earliest known reference to the adoption of white clothing by the Cistercians occurs in a letter of Peter the Venerable (1092/94–1156), abbot of Cluny, to Bernard of Clairvaux (Burton 2006, 10). The reference to a water mill may also be suggestive, as the typical Cistercian monastery straddled a mill-race, an artificial stream diverted from a nearby river to provide power for grain milling and other technologies as well as running water for domestic purposes (Hansen [n. d.], accessed 03/09/2015; cf. Bostan et al. 2012, 187; Woods 2005, 33). The Cistercians’ founding of Tintern Abbey, not far from Monmouth, occurred early enough for Geoffrey to have been able to allude to it in the separate Libellus Merlini as well as the subsequent DGB. — [1, 2] ríðr … til ‘rides … to’: Possibly a misinterpretation of divertet ‘will divert’ (applying to the course of the river).
Stanza/chapter/text segment
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
Information tab
- text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
- sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
- readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
- editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
- notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant
Interactive tab
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
Full text tab
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
Chapter/text segment
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.