GunnLeif Merl I 95VIII
Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 163 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 95)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 128.
‘’
(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when
Viti ‘know’
(not checked:)
1. vita (verb): know
bragnar ‘May men’
(not checked:)
bragnar (noun m.): men, warriors
þeirs ‘who’
(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when
bók ‘the book’
(not checked:)
1. bók (noun f.; °bǿkr/bókar; bǿkr): book
lesa ‘read’
(not checked:)
lesa (verb): read
hvé ‘how’
(not checked:)
hvé (conj.): how
at ‘rendered’
(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to
spjǫllum ‘sayings’
(not checked:)
1. spjall (noun n.): story
sé ‘have’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
spámanns ‘the prophet’s’
(not checked:)
spámaðr (noun m.): prophet
farit ‘been’
(not checked:)
fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
ok ‘and’
(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
kjal ‘keel’
(not checked:)
kjǫlr (noun m.; °kjalar, dat. kili; kjǫlir): keel, ship < kjaldýr (noun n.)
[6] kjal‑: kal Hb
kennings
viðum kjaldýrs,‘to trees of the keel-beast, ’
= SEAFARERS
the keel-beast, → SHIP
to trees of of the SHIP → SEAFARERS
notes
[6] kjaldýrs ‘of the keel-beast [SHIP]’: Obscure but probably a kenning for ‘ship’. The determinant kal- is difficult to explain as it stands. A first element kal- in compounds occurs in kalreip ‘rope on a ship that prevents the sail from flapping’, but is unlikely to be relevant, since it depends on the (Modern Icelandic) idiom segl kelur ‘the sail loses the wind’, lit. ‘the sail cools’ (LP: kalreip), thus a ‘rope [to prevent] “cooling”’. Instead ms. kal- appears to represent a miswriting for (or conceivably a reduced form of) kjal-, combinative form of kjǫlr ‘keel’. Thus ‘of the keel-beast [SHIP]’. The late kenning meiðar kjaldúks ‘trees of the keel-cloth’ (EGils Guðkv 20/3-4IV) may represent an imitation of Gunnlaugr.
kjal ‘keel’
(not checked:)
kjǫlr (noun m.; °kjalar, dat. kili; kjǫlir): keel, ship < kjaldýr (noun n.)
[6] kjal‑: kal Hb
kennings
viðum kjaldýrs,‘to trees of the keel-beast, ’
= SEAFARERS
the keel-beast, → SHIP
to trees of of the SHIP → SEAFARERS
notes
[6] kjaldýrs ‘of the keel-beast [SHIP]’: Obscure but probably a kenning for ‘ship’. The determinant kal- is difficult to explain as it stands. A first element kal- in compounds occurs in kalreip ‘rope on a ship that prevents the sail from flapping’, but is unlikely to be relevant, since it depends on the (Modern Icelandic) idiom segl kelur ‘the sail loses the wind’, lit. ‘the sail cools’ (LP: kalreip), thus a ‘rope [to prevent] “cooling”’. Instead ms. kal- appears to represent a miswriting for (or conceivably a reduced form of) kjal-, combinative form of kjǫlr ‘keel’. Thus ‘of the keel-beast [SHIP]’. The late kenning meiðar kjaldúks ‘trees of the keel-cloth’ (EGils Guðkv 20/3-4IV) may represent an imitation of Gunnlaugr.
dýrs ‘beast’
(not checked:)
1. dýr (noun n.; °-s (spec.: dyʀiɴs KonrA 66⁴, etc., cf. Seip 1955 188-189); -): animal < kjaldýr (noun n.)
kennings
viðum kjaldýrs,‘to trees of the keel-beast, ’
= SEAFARERS
the keel-beast, → SHIP
to trees of of the SHIP → SEAFARERS
notes
[6] kjaldýrs ‘of the keel-beast [SHIP]’: Obscure but probably a kenning for ‘ship’. The determinant kal- is difficult to explain as it stands. A first element kal- in compounds occurs in kalreip ‘rope on a ship that prevents the sail from flapping’, but is unlikely to be relevant, since it depends on the (Modern Icelandic) idiom segl kelur ‘the sail loses the wind’, lit. ‘the sail cools’ (LP: kalreip), thus a ‘rope [to prevent] “cooling”’. Instead ms. kal- appears to represent a miswriting for (or conceivably a reduced form of) kjal-, combinative form of kjǫlr ‘keel’. Thus ‘of the keel-beast [SHIP]’. The late kenning meiðar kjaldúks ‘trees of the keel-cloth’ (EGils Guðkv 20/3-4IV) may represent an imitation of Gunnlaugr.
dýrs ‘beast’
(not checked:)
1. dýr (noun n.; °-s (spec.: dyʀiɴs KonrA 66⁴, etc., cf. Seip 1955 188-189); -): animal < kjaldýr (noun n.)
kennings
viðum kjaldýrs,‘to trees of the keel-beast, ’
= SEAFARERS
the keel-beast, → SHIP
to trees of of the SHIP → SEAFARERS
notes
[6] kjaldýrs ‘of the keel-beast [SHIP]’: Obscure but probably a kenning for ‘ship’. The determinant kal- is difficult to explain as it stands. A first element kal- in compounds occurs in kalreip ‘rope on a ship that prevents the sail from flapping’, but is unlikely to be relevant, since it depends on the (Modern Icelandic) idiom segl kelur ‘the sail loses the wind’, lit. ‘the sail cools’ (LP: kalreip), thus a ‘rope [to prevent] “cooling”’. Instead ms. kal- appears to represent a miswriting for (or conceivably a reduced form of) kjal-, combinative form of kjǫlr ‘keel’. Thus ‘of the keel-beast [SHIP]’. The late kenning meiðar kjaldúks ‘trees of the keel-cloth’ (EGils Guðkv 20/3-4IV) may represent an imitation of Gunnlaugr.
viðum ‘to trees’
(not checked:)
1. viðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -u/-i): wood, tree
kennings
viðum kjaldýrs,‘to trees of the keel-beast, ’
= SEAFARERS
the keel-beast, → SHIP
to trees of of the SHIP → SEAFARERS
hverr ‘what’
(not checked:)
2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
fyrða ‘persons’
(not checked:)
2. fyrðr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -): man
sé ‘is’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
framsýnna ‘of prophetic’
(not checked:)
framsýnn (adj.): prophetic
hôttr ‘the style’
(not checked:)
1. háttr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. hætti; hættir, acc. háttu): behaviour, measure, verse-form
[8] hôttr: hôttu corrected from ‘hôttr’ during the process of refreshing Hb
notes
[8] hôttr ‘style’: The word, as used here, does not have its more usual meaning of metrical form or stanza-form (despite Sveinbjörn Rafnsson 1994, 737) but instead relates, as the context shows, to figurative language. Comparable in sense is hætti in I 94/10.
môl ‘matters’
(not checked:)
1. mál (noun n.; °-s; -): speech, matter
at ‘in’
(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
rekja ‘narrating’
(not checked:)
3. rekja (verb)
menn ‘men’
(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person
vitut ‘do not know’
(not checked:)
1. vita (verb): know
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Stanza/chapter/text segment
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
Information tab
- text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
- sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
- readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
- editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
- notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant
Interactive tab
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
Full text tab
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
Chapter/text segment
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.