GunnLeif Merl I 94VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 162 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 94)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 127.
eru ‘are’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
ǫnnur ‘other’
(not checked:)
1. annarr (pron.; °f. ǫnnur, n. annat; pl. aðrir): (an)other, second
ljóð ‘songs’
(not checked:)
ljóð (noun n.; °; -): poem
upp ‘on from ’
(not checked:)
upp (adv.): up
frá ‘following’
(not checked:)
frá (prep.): from
†alvisk† ‘…’
notes
[3] †alvisk† ‘…’: Possibly ‘be vexed’ (?). This ms. reading (not refreshed) is obscure, though the general sense is apparent from the context. The reading is tentatively retained in Bret 1848-9 with the gloss laste ‘blame’ and Scheving’s proposed emendation to ylfisk ‘be worried’, i.e. ‘harassed’ (CVC: ylfa), is rejected. In Skj B abbisk ‘become incensed at, vexed with’ is conjectured (cf. CVC, LP, ONP: abbask; Fritzner: abbast), and followed by Merl 2012, and that remains the most plausible solution. Kock’s suggestion ǫlvisk ‘grow drunk’ (NN §3258F) is ruled out by the context.
eigi ‘not’
(not checked:)
3. eigi (adv.): not
auðs ‘of wealth’
(not checked:)
1. auðr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-): wealth
kennings
berdraugar auðs‘bearing logs of wealth ’
= MEN
bearing logs of wealth → MEN
ber ‘bearing’
(not checked:)
3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry < berdraugr (noun m.): bare log
[4] ber‑: ben Hb
kennings
berdraugar auðs‘bearing logs of wealth ’
= MEN
bearing logs of wealth → MEN
notes
[4] ber- ‘bearing’: Emended in Skj B, followed by Skald and Merl 2012, from ms. ben (refreshed). A determinant ben ‘wound’ would be difficult to explain in combination with auðs ‘wealth’ (gen.). For a similar confusion of ber-, ben-, cf. LP: berdraugr and Glúmr Lv 1/2I and Note there.
draugar ‘logs’
(not checked:)
1. draugr (noun m.; °; -ar): tree < berdraugr (noun m.): bare log
kennings
berdraugar auðs‘bearing logs of wealth ’
= MEN
bearing logs of wealth → MEN
notes
[4] -draugar ‘logs’: The interpretation of this heiti remains uncertain. Meissner 264-5 cites the interpretation as ‘wood’, therefore ‘tree’, in Orms Eddu-brot (SnE 1848-87, II, 497), but notes that draugr is not attested in this general sense and instead posits, following Neckel (1914), an agentive noun with the meaning ‘one who carries or draws’, from a verb *driuga ‘lead, carry out’, as the base-word for this and similar kennings (but cf. AEW: draugr 2).
þjóðir ‘of people’
(not checked:)
þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people
við ‘with’
(not checked:)
2. við (prep.): with, against
brag ‘poem’
(not checked:)
bragr (noun m.; °-ar): poem, poetry
þó ‘although’
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þó (adv.): though
at ‘’
(not checked:)
4. at (conj.): that
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
mynt ‘formed’
(not checked:)
1. mynda (verb): shape
hafa ‘have’
(not checked:)
hafa (verb): have
mál ‘sayings’
(not checked:)
1. mál (noun n.; °-s; -): speech, matter
at ‘after’
(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to
hætti ‘style in which’
(not checked:)
1. háttr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. hætti; hættir, acc. háttu): behaviour, measure, verse-form
spár ‘prophecies’
(not checked:)
1. spá (noun f.; °-r; -r/-ir): prophecy
fyrir ‘’
(not checked:)
fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of
spjǫllum ‘in speeches’
(not checked:)
1. spjall (noun n.): story
rakði ‘recited’
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2. raka (verb)
malm ‘of the metal’
(not checked:)
malmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): metal < malmþing (noun n.): weapon-assembly
kennings
hvǫtuðr malmþings‘the whetter of the metal-meeting ’
= WARRIOR = Merlin
the metal-meeting → BATTLE
the whetter of the BATTLE → WARRIOR = Merlin
malm ‘of the metal’
(not checked:)
malmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): metal < malmþing (noun n.): weapon-assembly
kennings
hvǫtuðr malmþings‘the whetter of the metal-meeting ’
= WARRIOR = Merlin
the metal-meeting → BATTLE
the whetter of the BATTLE → WARRIOR = Merlin
þings ‘meeting’
(not checked:)
þing (noun n.; °-s; -): meeting, assembly < malmþing (noun n.): weapon-assembly
kennings
hvǫtuðr malmþings‘the whetter of the metal-meeting ’
= WARRIOR = Merlin
the metal-meeting → BATTLE
the whetter of the BATTLE → WARRIOR = Merlin
þings ‘meeting’
(not checked:)
þing (noun n.; °-s; -): meeting, assembly < malmþing (noun n.): weapon-assembly
kennings
hvǫtuðr malmþings‘the whetter of the metal-meeting ’
= WARRIOR = Merlin
the metal-meeting → BATTLE
the whetter of the BATTLE → WARRIOR = Merlin
hvǫtuðr ‘the whetter’
(not checked:)
hvǫtuðr (noun m.): inciter
kennings
hvǫtuðr malmþings‘the whetter of the metal-meeting ’
= WARRIOR = Merlin
the metal-meeting → BATTLE
the whetter of the BATTLE → WARRIOR = Merlin
í ‘in’
(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into
mǫrgum ‘many’
(not checked:)
2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
stað ‘a place’
(not checked:)
1. staðr (noun m.; °-ar/-s; -ir): place
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
[1-2]: Here Gunnlaugr is referring in anticipation to Merl II (Bret 1848-9, II, 71 n. 8; see Introduction).
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