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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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GunnLeif Merl I 81VIII

Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 149 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 81)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 118.

Gunnlaugr LeifssonMerlínusspá I
808182

‘Mun hans brjóst vesa         brǫgnum fœzla,
þeims fátt hafa         fjár með hǫndum.
Ok in tállausa         tunga hilmis
sløkkvir þorsta         þjóðans liði.

‘Brjóst hans mun vesa fœzla brǫgnum, þeims hafa fátt fjár með hǫndum. Ok in tállausa tunga hilmis sløkkvir þorsta liði þjóðans.

‘His breast will be sustenance for men who have little property at their disposal. And the ruler’s tongue, free of deception, will slake thirst for the following of the lord.

Mss: Hb(52v) (Bret)

Readings: [7] þorsta: ‘þịosta’ Hb

Editions: Skj AII, 33, Skj BII, 40, Skald II, 25; Bret 1848-9, II, 67 (Bret st. 149); Hb 1892-6, 282; Merl 2012, 192.

Notes: [All]: Cf. DGB 115 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 151.130; cf. Wright 1988, 106, prophecy 26): Pectus eius cibus erit egentibus, et lingua eius sedabit sicientes ‘His breast shall be food for the needy and his tongue drink for the thirsty’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 150). Geoffrey continues his prophecies regarding the ‘boar of commerce’. Gunnlaugr adds the idea of the ruler’s tongue being free from deceit; for other additions relating to deceit and treachery cf. I 48 Note to [All] and II 25 Note to [All]. — [7] þorsta ‘thirst’: Emended in Bret 1848-9 (followed by subsequent eds) from ms. ‘þiosta’ (not refreshed), with point of deletion under the <i>.

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  3. Hb 1892-6 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1892-6. Hauksbók udgiven efter de Arnamagnæanske håndskrifter no. 371, 544 og 675, 4° samt forskellige papirshåndskrifter. Copenhagen: Det kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab.
  4. Bret 1848-9 = Jón Sigurðsson. 1848-9. ‘Trójumanna saga ok Breta sögur, efter Hauksbók, med dansk Oversættelse’. ÅNOH 1848, 3-215; 1849, 3-145.
  5. Reeve, Michael D., and Neil Wright. 2007. Geoffrey of Monmouth. The History of the Kings of Britain. An Edition and Translation of De gestis Britonum [Historia regum Britanniae]. Woodbridge: Boydell.
  6. Wright, Neil, ed. 1988. The Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth. II. The First Variant Version: A Critical Edition. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
  7. Merl 2012 = Horst, Simone, ed. 2012. Merlínússpá. Merlins Prophezeiung. Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag.
  8. Internal references
  9. 2017, ‘ Unattributed, Breta saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 38. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=125> (accessed 29 March 2024)
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