Carolyne Larrington and Peter Robinson (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Sólarljóð 19’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 308.
Óvinum þínum trú þú aldrigi,
þótt fagrt mæli fyr þér;
góðu þú heit; gótt er annars
víti hafa at varnaði.
Trú þú aldrigi óvinum þínum, þótt mæli fagrt fyr þér; heit þú góðu; gótt er hafa annars víti at varnaði.
‘Never trust your enemies, though they speak fair words to you; promise good things; it is good to have another’s punishment as a warning.’
The exemplum of sts 19-24 recalls the admonitions in Sigrdr 23 and 35 against swearing oaths unless reconciliation has truly been achieved and against trusting those whose kin you have killed. Amory (1985, 16; 1990, 264-5) suggests a reference to Matt. X.16, warning against trusting one’s enemies.
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.
Óvinum þínum
trú þú aldrigi,
þótt þeir fagrt mæli fyr þér ;
góðu þú heit;
gótt er annars
vit at hafa fyrir varnaði .
Óvinum þínum
trú þú aldrigi,
þótt þeir fagrt fyr þér mæli ;
góðu þú heit;
gótt er annars
víti sér varnaðar vita .
Óvinum þínum
†tr[...]† aldrigi,
þeir fagrt mæli fyr þér ;
góðu þú heit;
gótt er annars
víti at hafa fyr varnaði .
Óvinum þínum
trú þú aldrigi,
þótt fagrt mæli fyr ;
góðu þú heit;
gótt er annars
víti hafa at varnaði.
Óvinum þínum
trú þú aldrigi,
þótt þeir fagrt mæli fyr þér ;
góðu þú heit;
gótt er annars
víti at hafa fyr varnaði .
Óvinum þínum
trú þú aldrigi,
þótt þeir fagrt mæli fyr þér ;
góðu þú heit;
gótt er annars
víti at hafa fyr varnaði .
Sua hanom gafz | Saurla inom goþraþa | þa er haɴ lagþi a uald haɴs Uigulfs | triGliga haɴ truþi | eɴ hiɴ at talom uarþ | sinom broþr bani
(TW)
Óvinum þínum
trú þú aldrigi,
þótt þeir fagrt mæli fyr ;
góðu þú heit;
gótt er annars
víti at hafa fyr varnaði .
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XII], G [6]. Sólarljóð 19: AI, 630, BI, 638, Skald I, 310, NN §1921F; Bugge 1867, 360, Falk 1914, 10, Björn M. Ólsen 1915, 10, Fidjestøl 1979, 62, Njörður Njarðvík 1991, 57, Njörður Njarðvík 1993, 25, 104.
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