GunnLeif Merl I 92VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 160 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 92)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 125.
Munu ‘will’
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munu (verb): will, must
kapps ‘of bravery’
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kapp (noun n.; °-s; *-): strength, vigour, courage
notes
[1] mǫnnum kapps ‘to men of bravery’: That is to say, ‘to warriors’. Bret 1848-9, Skj and Skald retain this ms. reading, but a word equivalent in sense to *kápumǫnnum ‘cowled men’ (for which see Fritzner, ONP: kápumaðr) would be expected, rendering cucullati ‘those with cowls’, i.e. ‘monks’ (Hb 1892-6, cxii; cf. Skj B); cf. the Anglo-Norman decasyllabic rendering: Mungiu orra le cri des cuvelez ‘Montgieu will hear the cries of the cowled ones’ (Blacker 2005, 43). Bret 1848-9 translates accordingly without altering the text: de kutteklædte Mænd ‘the cowl-clad men’, i.e. ‘monks’, followed by Skj B. The word kápumǫnnum is introduced into the text by emendation in Merl 2012, but this is precluded by metrical considerations, since it would yield a hypermetrical málaháttr line and the metre of Merl I is otherwise regular. Alternatively, Gunnlaugr might be imagined as having first written lines that included the word kápumǫnnum or a synonym thereof in a different metrical context but then, whether as a result of his own self-censorship or advice from his mentors, altering it to the conveniently similar kapps mǫnnum in order to tone down the notion of forced marriages of monks into a scenario of warriors being offered marriage. The explanation that these marriages arise because the number of widows is so large could be seen as part of this revision. It is unclear whether he intends the kall ‘cry’ to be attributed to men or widows; the punctuation adopted in this edn preserves the logic of DGB, where it is the men.
mǫnnum ‘men’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
notes
[1] mǫnnum kapps ‘to men of bravery’: That is to say, ‘to warriors’. Bret 1848-9, Skj and Skald retain this ms. reading, but a word equivalent in sense to *kápumǫnnum ‘cowled men’ (for which see Fritzner, ONP: kápumaðr) would be expected, rendering cucullati ‘those with cowls’, i.e. ‘monks’ (Hb 1892-6, cxii; cf. Skj B); cf. the Anglo-Norman decasyllabic rendering: Mungiu orra le cri des cuvelez ‘Montgieu will hear the cries of the cowled ones’ (Blacker 2005, 43). Bret 1848-9 translates accordingly without altering the text: de kutteklædte Mænd ‘the cowl-clad men’, i.e. ‘monks’, followed by Skj B. The word kápumǫnnum is introduced into the text by emendation in Merl 2012, but this is precluded by metrical considerations, since it would yield a hypermetrical málaháttr line and the metre of Merl I is otherwise regular. Alternatively, Gunnlaugr might be imagined as having first written lines that included the word kápumǫnnum or a synonym thereof in a different metrical context but then, whether as a result of his own self-censorship or advice from his mentors, altering it to the conveniently similar kapps mǫnnum in order to tone down the notion of forced marriages of monks into a scenario of warriors being offered marriage. The explanation that these marriages arise because the number of widows is so large could be seen as part of this revision. It is unclear whether he intends the kall ‘cry’ to be attributed to men or widows; the punctuation adopted in this edn preserves the logic of DGB, where it is the men.
kvánfǫng ‘Marriages’
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kvánfang (noun n.): match, marriage, wife
boðin ‘be offered’
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bjóða (verb; °býðr; bauð, buðu; boðinn (buð- Thom¹ 5²n.)): offer, order, invite
eru ‘have’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
ekkjur ‘widows’
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1. ekkja (noun f.; °-u; -ur, gen. ekkna): widow, woman
þar ‘there’
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þar (adv.): there
orðnar ‘become’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
margar ‘many’
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
En ‘But’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
kǫldum ‘the cold’
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kaldr (adj.; °compar. -ari): cold
kall ‘cry’
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kall (noun n.): cry, prayer
þeira ‘their’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
næst ‘afterwards’
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næst (adv.): next
menn ‘men’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
Mundíu ‘of the Alps’
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Mundia (noun f.)
notes
[7] á kǫldum montum Mundíu ‘on the cold mountains of the Alps’: Here DGB has montibus Alpium ‘on the mountains of the Alps’. The name Mundía used by Gunnlaugr (and also recorded in Sigv Lv 18/1I; see Note there) can be traced back to *Montgiu = Fr. Mont Joux < Lat. Mons Jovis, lit. ‘mountain of Jove’, ‘Great S. Bernard’; the Latin name derives from the presence of a Roman temple to Jupiter Poeninus at the site (Meissner 1903, 193-4, cf. LP: Mundio). It would have been known from pilgrimage itineraries (Meissner 1903, 193-4 and references there given) but it was early generalised, as in the present stanza, so as to denote the Alps as a whole (Meissner 1903, 196).
montum ‘mountains’
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Mont (noun n.): [Alps]
heyra ‘will hear’
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2. heyra (verb): hear
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Cf. DGB 116 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 151.145-6; cf. Wright 1988, 107, prophecy 30): Cucullati ad nuptias prouocabuntur, et clamor eorum in montibus Alpium audietur ‘The wearers of cowls will be challenged to marry, and their complaint will be heard in the mountains of the Alps’ (Reeve and Wright 2007, 150). The comment about widows appears to be Gunnlaugr’s innovation.
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