GunnLeif Merl I 75VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 143 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 75)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 111.
Blæs ‘blows’
(not checked:)
2. blása (verb; °blǽss; blés, blésu; blásinn): blow
Mistar ‘of Mist’
(not checked:)
Mist (noun f.): Mist
kennings
‘Vinr Mistar‘‘The friend of Mist ’
= WARRIOR
‘The friend of Mist → WARRIOR
notes
[1] vinr Mistar ‘the friend of Mist <valkyrie> [WARRIOR]’: By introducing a warrior-kenning where Geoffrey has qui ‘who’, Gunnlaugr emphasises the human represented by the allegorical goat-king of I 74. The absence of alliteration suggests, however, that Mist might have replaced some other heiti. Finnur Jónsson tentatively suggests Njǫrðr (LP: Mist). Kock (NN §105) proposes Nipt ‘sister, female relative’ as a valkyrie-heiti, but this is highly doubtful (see Þul Ásynja 5/3-4III and Note there). It is also possible that this passage is more extensively damaged: see Notes to l. 2.
vinr ‘The friend’
(not checked:)
vinr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -/(-i OsvReyk 92.17); -ir): friend
kennings
‘Vinr Mistar‘‘The friend of Mist ’
= WARRIOR
‘The friend of Mist → WARRIOR
notes
[1] vinr Mistar ‘the friend of Mist <valkyrie> [WARRIOR]’: By introducing a warrior-kenning where Geoffrey has qui ‘who’, Gunnlaugr emphasises the human represented by the allegorical goat-king of I 74. The absence of alliteration suggests, however, that Mist might have replaced some other heiti. Finnur Jónsson tentatively suggests Njǫrðr (LP: Mist). Kock (NN §105) proposes Nipt ‘sister, female relative’ as a valkyrie-heiti, but this is highly doubtful (see Þul Ásynja 5/3-4III and Note there). It is also possible that this passage is more extensively damaged: see Notes to l. 2.
notes
[2] ór ‘out of’: Emended from ms. ok (not refreshed) in Bret 1848-9, followed by subsequent eds.
nǫsum ‘nostrils’
(not checked:)
nǫs (noun f.; °; nasar/nasir): nose, nostrils
†tiossa† ‘…’
(not checked:)
tjossi (noun m.)
notes
[2] †tiossa† ‘…’: This ms. reading (not refreshed) has not so far been explained or convincingly emended; DGB supplies no guidance at this point. Skj B emends to brúsa ‘of the he-goat’. Bret 1848-9 already interprets it in that sense (af Bukkenæsen) but without emendation; CVC has the entry tjossi ‘he goat (?)’, citing the present passage as the unique attestation, but it does not feature in Fritzner or ONP and is no doubt a mere ghost-word. Kock (NN §105; Skald), followed by Merl 2012, emends to acc. *tjǫssu, taken as in apposition to þoku ‘fog’ and glossed as ‘wave’. He bases his case on inference from West Germanic words denoting ‘heavy wave, sea-swell’, but no such word is attested in Old Norse and Kock does not clarify how such a sense would relate to the context.
þoku ‘a fog’
(not checked:)
1. þoka (noun f.; °-u; -ur): [Fog, mist]
þvílíkri ‘such’
(not checked:)
þvílíkr (adj.): such
at ‘that’
(not checked:)
4. at (conj.): that
þekr ‘covers’
(not checked:)
3. þekja (verb): thatch, cover
of ‘it’
(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too
ey ‘the island’
(not checked:)
1. ey (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju/-; -jar): island
of ‘throughout’
(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too
fylkis ‘the king’s’
(not checked:)
fylkir (noun m.): leader
fastr ‘fixed’
(not checked:)
fastr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): firm, fast
lífdaga ‘lifetime’
(not checked:)
lífdagr (noun m.): [his life]
brestr ‘fail’
(not checked:)
1. bresta (verb; °brestr; brast, brustu; brostinn): burst, split
eigi ‘does not’
(not checked:)
3. eigi (adv.): not
þá ‘then’
(not checked:)
2. þá (adv.): then
ár ‘prosperity’
(not checked:)
2. ár (noun n.; °-s; -): year, year’s abundance
í ‘in’
(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into
landi ‘the land’
(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Cf. DGB 115, prophecies 22 and 23 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 151.119-22; cf. Wright 1988, 106): qui ex naribus suis tantam efflabit nebulam quanta tota superficies insulae obumbrabitur. Pax erit in tempore suo et ubertate glebae multiplicabuntur segetes ‘who will breathe forth from his nostrils a cloud which will cover the whole surface of the island. There will be peace in his time and the rich soil will increase its crops’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 150).
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.