GunnLeif Merl II 54^VIII

‘Verst es í heimi;         veitat sonr fǫður;
slíta þeir sifjum         svá synir við feðr.
Kannask engi         við kunna menn
né nána frændr         Nirðir bauga.

‘Verst es í heimi; sonr veitat fǫður; þeir synir slíta svá sifjum við feðr. Engi kannask við kunna menn né [kanna] {Nirðir bauga} nána frændr.

‘It will be worst in the world; the son will not know the father; the sons will thus break the bonds of kinship with fathers. No one will recognise familiar people, nor will {the Nirðir <gods> of rings} [MEN] [recognise] any kinsmen.

Mss: Hb(50v) (Bret)

Editions: Skj AII, 19, Skj BII, 21, Skald II, 13, NN §100; Bret 1848-9, II, 34-5 (Bret st. 54); Hb 1892-6, 276; Merl 2012, 115-17.

Notes: [All]: Cf. DGB 116 (Reeve and Wright 2007, 157.230; cf. Wright 1988, 111, prophecy 53): Nesciet pater filium proprium ‘A father will not recognise his own son’ (cf. Reeve and Wright 2007, 156). — [1] verst es í heimi ‘it will be worst in the world’: De Vries (1964-7, II, 75 n. 179) compares Vsp 45/5. — [3-4]: The difficulties posed by these lines have not so far been satisfactorily resolved. This edn follows Skj B (Bret 1848-9 reads similarly but with emendation of feðr to feðra) in adhering to the ms. readings (refreshed). The placement of svá is difficult, however, since regardless of whether it is assigned to l. 3 (with Bret 1848-9, also Merl 2012) or l. 4 (with Skj B) it generates an extra potentially alliterating syllable. Moreover, ll. 3-4 seem curiously repetitive of ll. 1-2. Kock suggests (NN §100) that svá synir may represent a misunderstanding of the adj. svásir, used substantivally, and proposes the emendation slíta þeir sifjum, | svásir, við feðga, translated as och frändskap slita de, de nära, med far och son ‘they sever kinship ties, the near and dear, between father and son’ (Skald is similar, with omission of þeir). He notes that ON svás, OE swǣs was particularly used with nouns denoting ‘close blood-relative’ (cf. Ásm 4/1-2), the latter often in collocation with gesibb, corresponding to sifjum here, a noun that denotes relationships by marriage (as noted by Merl 2012). De Vries (1964-7, II, 75 n. 179) compares l. 3 with Vsp 45/4.

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. Vries, Jan de. 1964-7. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. 2 vols. 2nd edn. Grundriss der germanischen Philologie 15-16. Berlin: de Gruyter.
6. 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.
7. Bret 1848-9 = Jón Sigurðsson. 1848-9. ‘Trójumanna saga ok Breta sögur, efter Hauksbók, med dansk Oversættelse’. ÅNOH 1848, 3-215; 1849, 3-145.
8. 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.
9. Wright, Neil, ed. 1988. The Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth. II. The First Variant Version: A Critical Edition. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
10. Merl 2012 = Horst, Simone, ed. 2012. Merlínússpá. Merlins Prophezeiung. Munich: Herbert Utz Verlag.
11. Internal references
12. 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 23 April 2024)
13. Not published: do not cite ()
14. Peter Jorgensen (ed.) 2017, ‘Ásmundar saga kappabana 4 (Hildibrandr, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 18.