Hundk Lv 1VIII (HjǪ 29)/8 — mega ‘be able’
Hverr er sá, kominn ór Manheimum,
ungr at aldri, oss at kveðja?
Berr þú, inn ungi, ormfrán augu;
mun ek við brögðum búaz mega.
Hverr er sá, kominn ór Manheimum, ungr at aldri, at kveðja oss? Þú, inn ungi, berr ormfrán augu; ek mun mega búaz við brögðum.
Who is he, come from Manheimar, young in age, to greet us [me]? You, young one, have snake-flashing eyes; I will be able to prepare myself for tricks.
notes
[7-8] ek mun mega búaz við brögðum ‘I will be able to prepare myself for tricks’: Kock (NN §3298) questions what reason the king would have to anticipate tricks from the bright-eyed young man, noticing that ormfránn is used elsewhere suggestive of ambition and vigour. Rather than translating brögðum as ‘tricks’, Kock prefers a more positive anticipation, of ‘feats’ or ‘exploits’. Against this, the meaning of bragð as ‘cunning, tricks’ is well attested (cf. LP: bragð 3), and the prose saga indicates that Hundingi has the power to understand the inner motivation of an apparently polite young man like Hjálmþér.
grammar
Verbs: Preterite-present verbs
The present tense of these verbs is like the past tense of strong verbs, and their past tense is weak.
| eiga | mega | kunna | skulu | munu | muna | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indic. pres. | sing. pl. | 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd | á átt á eigum eiguð eigu | má mátt má megum meguð megu | kann kannt kann kunnum kunnuð kunnu | skal skalt skal skulum skuluð skulu | mun munt mun munum munuð munu | man mant man munum munið muna |
| indic. past stem subj. pres. stem subj. past stem | átt- eig- ætt- | mátt- meg- mætt- | kunn- kunn- kynn- | skyld- skyl- skyld- | mund- myn- mynd- | mund- mun- mynd- | ||