Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 72’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 404-5.
Af hyggjandi sinni skyldi maðr óhræsinn vera,
nema geraz þarfir þess;
opt at haldi hefr ýtum komit,
ef leyniz spakr at speki.
Maðr skyldi vera óhræsinn af hyggjandi sinni, nema geraz þarfir þess; opt hefr komit at haldi ýtum, ef spakr leyniz at speki.
‘A man should not be boastful [lit. should be unboastful] of his intelligence, unless need of it arises; often it has become a help to people, if a wise man conceals his wisdom.’
Lat. parallels: (Dist. II, 18) Insipiens esto, cum tempus postulat ipsum, / stultitiam simulare loco, prudentia summa est ‘Be foolish when the occasion demands; to feign stupidity is at times the highest prudence’. For similar phrasing cf. Hávm 6/1-2 (NK, 18): At hyggiandi sinni | scylit maðr hrœsinn vera ‘about his intelligence no man should be boastful’ (Larrington 1996, 15). This st. is included considerably further on in 1199ˣ, with other sts that seem very much out of order (29, 66). Its inclusion here follows 624 and the Lat. text.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Af higgindi sinne skyllde madur öhræsinn vera, nema giór | ist þarfir þess. Opt ad halldi hefer itum komid, ef leýnist spakur ad speke. |
(VEÞ)
offt ad hallde hefur | Jtum komid, þegar leinest spakur, ad speke | sinne.
(VEÞ)
Af hyggjandi þinni
vertu óhræsinn ,
unz geraz þarfir þess;
opt at haldi
hefr ýtum komit,
at leyniz spakr at speki.
Af hygiandi þínne uertv | ohræsin vnzt gioraz þarfer þess opt at halldi hefur ytvm komit at leynaz sp | akur at speki ·
(VEÞ)
Af higgiande þinne vertu ö | hræsinn, vnnz giorast þarfer þess offt ad hallde | hefur Jtum komed, ad leinast spakur ad speke. |
(VEÞ)
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], [C. E/5]. Hugsvinnsmál 73: AII, 183, BII, 197-8, Skald II, 103, NN §3282; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 19, Konráð Gíslason 1860, 551, Gering 1907, 20, Tuvestrand 1977, 112, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 78.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
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.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.