GunnLeif Merl I 9^VIII

Einn vas maðr sá,         es myrkva frétt
fyr skata skýrum         skynja kunni.
Hét yngva vinr         Ambrósíus,
en inn ágæti         ǫðru nafni
Merlínus sá         maðr kallaðisk.

Sá maðr vas einn, es kunni skynja myrkva frétt fyr skýrum skata. Vinr yngva hét Ambrósíus, en sá inn ágæti maðr kallaðisk ǫðru nafni Merlínus.

That man was [the] only [one], who could explain the obscure portent to the wise king. The friend of the king was called Ambrosius but that excellent man was known by another name, Merlin.

Mss: Hb(51r) (Bret)

Editions: Skj AII, 23, Skj BII, 25-6, Skald II, 16, NN §§2164, 3142, 3258B; Bret 1848-9, II, 41-2 (Bret st. 77); Hb 1892-6, 277; Merl 2012, 135-6.

Notes: [All]: For the source, see Merl I 10 Note to [All]. — [2] frétt ‘portent’: ‘Intelligence, report, enquiring of men or gods about the future’ (CVC, Fritzner: frétt; cf. NN §3258). — [3] skýrum ‘wise’: So Bret 1848-9 and Skj B. Kock (NN §3142, followed by Merl 2012) sees it as awkward to attribute wisdom to Vortigern, who has expressed himself baffled by the portent, and proposes that skýrum instead be taken adverbially, meaning ‘clearly’. But the adj. may allude to Vortigern’s reputation for wisdom as he assumes power (cf. DGB VI: Reeve and Wright 2007, 120-1); cf. the similar application of the adj. spǫkum ‘sagacious’ to him in I 11/8. — [5-8]: Word order follows Bret 1848-9 and Skj B (cf. Merl 2012). Kock (NN §2164) proposes a word order en sá maðr kallaðisk ǫðru nafni inn ágæti Merlínus ‘but that man was called by another name the excellent Merlin’, but the combination sá inn needs no special explanation. — [5] vinr yngva ‘the friend of the king’: J. S. Eysteinsson (1953-7, 96-7) points out the conventional nature of this phrase, comparing e.g. I 10/2, I 11/8 and I 20/1. Geoffrey’s presentation of Merlin as the son of an incubus (Reeve and Wright 2007, 138-9) troubled some commentators, as in effect associating his prophecy with diabolic powers (Crick 2011, 77); Gunnlaugr may be following their lead by normalising his nature and social status.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
6. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
7. 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.
8. Eysteinsson, J. S. 1953-7. ‘The Relationship of Merlínússpá and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia’. SBVS 14, 95-112.
9. Bret 1848-9 = Jón Sigurðsson. 1848-9. ‘Trójumanna saga ok Breta sögur, efter Hauksbók, med dansk Oversættelse’. ÅNOH 1848, 3-215; 1849, 3-145.
10. 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.
11. Crick, Julia C. 2011. ‘Geoffrey and the Prophetic Tradition’. In Echard 2011, 67-82.
12. Merl 2012 = Horst, Simone, ed. 2012. Merlínússpá. Merlins Prophezeiung. Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag.
13. Internal references
14. 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 17 May 2024)