Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 19’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 372.
Ómálugr skal ok stilla orðum vel,
sá er vill guðs ást geta;
æðra krapt fær maðr aldrigi,
en hann sé með tungu trúr.
Skal ómálugr ok stilla vel orðum, sá er vill geta ást guðs; maðr fær aldrigi æðra krapt, en hann sé trúr með tungu.
‘He must [be] close-mouthed and control words well, who wants to gain the love of God; a man never obtains more strength than by being true with his tongue.’
Lat. parallel: (Dist. I, 3) Virtutem primam esse puta conpescere linguam; / proximus ille deo est, qui scit ratione tacere ‘I think the first virtue to be curbing your tongue; he is closest to God who knows how to keep quiet properly’. The advice to listen rather than to speak in a circle of strangers is parallelled in Hsv 16, but this st. concentrates on discretion as a general virtue. A similar idea is expressed in Hávm 103 (cf. NK, 33).
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.
Ómálugr skal
ok stilla orðum vel,
sá er vill guðs ást gefa;
æðra krapt
fær maðr aldrigi,
en hann sé með tungu trúr.
Ꝏmälugur | skal, og stilla ordumm vel, sa er vill ɢuds Äst gefa. Ædra krapt fær || madur alldre enn hann sie med tungu trur.
(VEÞ)
Ómálugr skalt þú
ok stilla orðum vel,
sá er vill guðs ástar geta;
æðra krapt
fær maðr aldrigi,
en at vera í tungu trúr.
O mallugur skallt þu ok stilla ordum wel sꜳ er wi\\ll Gudz ꜳstar g||iæta ædra kraft fær madr alldrei enn ath wera // j tungu trur |
(TW)
Ómálugr skal
ok orðum stilla vel,
sá er vill guðs geta;
æðra krapt
fær maðr aldrigi,
en vera í tungu trúr.
Ömälgur skal og ordum stilla vel sä er vill | Gudz gæta, ædra kraft fær madur alldrei, enn ve|ra i tungu trúr.
(TW)
Ómálugr þú vert
ok stilt orðum vel,
sá er vill guðs ást geta;
æðra krapt
fær maðr aldrigi,
en vera í tungu trúr.
omalugur þu vert ok stillt ordum vel sa er uill guds ast getꜳ̋ | ædra krapt fær madur alldri enn vera j tungv trvr
(VEÞ)
ömälugur þu vert, og stillt ordum vel, | sä er vill gudz äst geta, ædra krafft fær | madur alldri, enn vera J tűngu trür.
(VEÞ)
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], [C. E/5]. Hugsvinnsmál 19: AII, 172, BII, 188, Skald II, 98; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 10, Konráð Gíslason 1860, 549, Gering 1907, 6, Tuvestrand 1977, 81, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 36.
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