GunnLeif Merl I 84VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 152 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 84)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 120.
‘Kømr þar af lœgi landnyrðingr hvass;
lýstr hann illum byl einn af stofni.
Þar munu kvistir, es þruma eptir,
þess rúm taka; þat sék gǫrla.
‘Hvass landnyrðingr kømr þar af lœgi; hann lýstr einn af stofni illum byl. Kvistir, es þruma eptir, munu taka rúm þess þar; sék þat gǫrla.
‘A sharp northeast wind will come there from the sea; it will knock one [branch] from the trunk with a malevolent gust. The branches that remain afterwards will take up its space there; I see that clearly.
Mss: Hb(52v) (Bret)
Readings: [4] einn: eik Hb
Editions: Skj AII, 34, Skj BII, 41, Skald II, 26; Bret 1848-9, II, 68 (Bret st. 152); Hb 1892-6, 282; Merl 2012, 194-5.
Notes: [All]: Cf. DGB 115 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 151.134-5; cf. Wright 1988, 106-7, prophecies 27 and 28): Huic aduersarius Boreas superueniet atque iniquo flatu suo tercium illi ramum eripiet. Duo uero residui locum extirpati occupabunt ‘The North wind will come as its enemy and with its cruel blast will rip off the third branch. The remaining two will take the place of the one that has been removed’ (cf. Reeve and Wright 2007, 150). Here Geoffrey re-uses his earlier prophecy of Viking raids in England, not altogether incongruously since sporadic raiding from Scandinavia continued through his life-time. Raids carried out in England and Scotland by Eysteinn Haraldsson of Norway in the 1150s are alluded to in ESk RunII and ESk EystdrII; for historical commentary see A. B. Taylor (1965) and references there. — [2] hvass landnyrðingr ‘a sharp northeast wind’: Exactly the same line occurs at Merl I 44/3. See Note there. — [4] einn ‘one’: Emended in Skj B, followed by Skald, from ms. eik ‘oak’ (not refreshed). This, despite speculations in Merl 2012 concerning the possible presence of three oaks, is necessary for sense. — [8]: A free addition on Gunnlaugr’s part, emulating vernacular prophetic poems such as Vsp and Gríp. Cf. I 89/4 and 6.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- 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.
- Taylor, A. B. 1965. ‘Eysteinn Haraldsson in the West, c. 1151: Oral Traditions and Written Record’. In Small 1965, 119-34.
- Bret 1848-9 = Jón Sigurðsson. 1848-9. ‘Trójumanna saga ok Breta sögur, efter Hauksbók, med dansk Oversættelse’. ÅNOH 1848, 3-215; 1849, 3-145.
- 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.
- Wright, Neil, ed. 1988. The Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth. II. The First Variant Version: A Critical Edition. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
- Merl 2012 = Horst, Simone, ed. 2012. Merlínússpá. Merlins Prophezeiung. Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag.
- Internal references
- 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 26 April 2024)
- Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Einarr Skúlason, Eysteinsdrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 559-61. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1143> (accessed 26 April 2024)
- Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Einarr Skúlason, Runhenda’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 551-9. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1150> (accessed 26 April 2024)
- Not published: do not cite ()
- Not published: do not cite ()
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