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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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GunnLeif Merl I 49VIII/7 — skugga ‘the cover’

‘Ríkir enn at þat         ormar tvennir;
missir annarr þar         aldrs fyr skeyti,
en annarr mun         aptr of hverfa
und skugga nafns         at skǫpum vinna.

‘Ríkir enn at þat ormar tvennir; annarr missir þar aldrs fyr skeyti, en annarr mun of hverfa aptr und skugga nafns at vinna skǫpum.

‘After that two more snakes will rule; one will lose his life there to an arrow, but the other will return under the cover of a name to contend against the fates.

notes

[7] und skugga nafns ‘under the cover of a name’: The phrase sub umbra nominis, translated by Thorpe as ‘under the cover of authority’ (1966, 174), is also handled literally by Gunnlaugr. It is translated in error as under skyggens navn ‘under the name of a shadow’ in Skj B (contrast LP: skuggi; also Bret 1848-9). For an explication of the Latin phrase, which disparages weak leaders who hide behind a great name or reputation, see Feeney (1986). Robert Curthose was in name the heir apparent to power over England as well as Normandy, being the elder son, but in reality subordinate to William Rufus, whom William the Conqueror had designated as successor to the throne in England (Stenton 1971, 608, 620).

grammar

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